A beginner’s guide to following Formula 1

Formula 1 can look baffling at first: cars that seem identical, strategies announced in code over team radio, and a championship decided by points across more than twenty races. Here is how it fits together.

Two titles every season

Each team runs two cars. Drivers score points for their own championship, and their combined points count towards the constructors’ championship for the team. Only the top ten finishers in a Grand Prix score, with 25 points for a win.

The weekend

• Practice: teams test set-ups and tyres.
• Qualifying: three knockout sessions decide the starting grid. Starting position matters enormously — overtaking is hard.
• The race: usually around 300 kilometres. Some weekends also feature a shorter Saturday sprint race.

Tyres and pit stops

Drivers must normally use at least two different dry tyre compounds in a race. Softer tyres are faster but wear out sooner; harder ones last longer. The timing of a pit stop — under two and a half seconds for the best crews — can win or lose a race.

New rules, new order

Every major rule change reshuffles the pecking order. That is when the sport is at its most unpredictable.

The regulations introduced for 2026 brought new, lighter cars and power units that rely far more on electric power and sustainable fuel — a fresh start that makes now a good moment to begin watching.