Anatomy of a Race Weekend

Practice (FP1, FP2, FP3)

Three one-hour sessions across Friday and Saturday morning. Drivers can run as much or as little as they like; tyres are limited (each car gets 13 sets for the weekend). What teams are actually doing in practice:

• FP1: aero rake testing and baseline data collection. Sometimes a reserve driver runs in this session to clock their mandatory FIA practice mileage.
• FP2: long-run race simulations on race-spec tyres. The lap times you see on the timing screen here matter more than the headline pole-pace lap times: this is where teams measure tyre degradation.
• FP3: final qualifying setup. By the end of FP3, the car is in the configuration it will qualify in.

Qualifying (Q1 → Q2 → Q3)

A 65-minute, three-stage knockout:

• Q1 (18 min): all 22 cars on track. The slowest 5 are eliminated and start the race in positions 18–22.
• Q2 (15 min): remaining 17 cars run again. Slowest 5 eliminated, locked into 11–15.
• Q3 (12 min): the top 10 fight for pole position. Each driver typically gets two flying-lap attempts.

Drivers will run around 1–3 fast laps per stage, with cooling laps in between. The fastest single lap from each driver across all their runs is the one that counts.

Track evolution: grip increases steadily through the session as rubber lays down on the racing line. Q3 lap times are almost always faster than Q1, even when nothing else has changed.

The race

Sunday afternoon. Maximum 305 km, with a 2-hour ceiling on race time (3 hours including any red-flag stoppages). Most races are 50–70 laps. The grid is set by qualifying; the race uses a standing start with a five-lights sequence and a partial-throw clutch off the line.

The single rule that shapes strategy: each driver must use at least two different tyre compounds during the race (in dry conditions). That forces at least one pit stop per car. Teams choose which compounds to start on and which to switch to, and a swing in race position usually traces back to that choice.

Points are scored by the top 10 finishers (see the rules page for the full table) plus one extra for fastest lap if the driver who set it finished in the points.