5-second time penalty
When Minor incidents — small track-limit infringements, slight contact.
Effect 5 seconds added to race time, or served at next pit stop before mechanics can touch the car.
Section 05
Rules & Regulations
The rulebook is over 200 pages. The bits you'll see on a broadcast — points, flags, penalties, parc fermé — fit on one screen.
Two rule books govern every race weekend: the Sporting Regulations (how a race is run — flags, penalties, qualifying format) and the Technical Regulations (what the car can be — dimensions, weight, materials, fuel flow). Below: the slices of both that you'll actually encounter watching a race.
Points table
Awarded after the race. Top 10 finishers score; positions 11+ score zero.
P1 25 pts
P2 18 pts
P3 15 pts
P4 12 pts
P5 10 pts
P6 8 pts
P7 6 pts
P8 4 pts
P9 2 pts
P10 1 pts
+1
Fastest lap. A bonus point goes to whoever sets the race's fastest lap — but only if they finish in the top 10.
+8…+1
Sprint points. On sprint weekends, the Saturday Sprint awards points to the top 8 finishers (8-7-6-5-4-3-2-1). Separate from the main race.
½
Half points. If a race is red-flagged and resumed but ends with under 75% distance covered, points are awarded on a sliding scale (down to half points if the race ran 50–75%).
Flag grid
Marshals signal these from trackside posts. Race directors signal red, black, and chequered electronically too.
Yellow
Hazard ahead. Slow down. No overtaking until you pass the flag-clear point.
Marshals at incident sector Double yellow
Serious hazard — be prepared to stop. Marshals or vehicles likely on track.
Marshals Red
Session stopped. Return to pit lane immediately at reduced speed.
Race director Blue
A faster car is about to lap you. Yield within three corners or earn a penalty.
Marshals Green
Track is clear of hazard. Racing resumes.
Marshals White
Slow vehicle ahead — usually a recovery truck or course car.
Marshals Chequered
End of session.
Race director Black
Disqualification. Return to pits immediately.
Race director Black + orange disc
Mechanical problem on your car (visible to officials but maybe not you). Pit immediately for inspection.
Race director Half black, half white
Warning for unsporting behavior. Next infraction is a penalty.
StewardsPenalty primer
Stewards review every incident. Penalties are typically announced 5–15 minutes after the incident itself.
10-second time penalty
When Causing a collision, more serious track limits.
Effect Same as above but 10 s.
Drive-through penalty
When Mid-severity offense — unsafe release from the pit, jumping the start.
Effect Driver must enter the pit lane, drive its length below the speed limit, and exit without stopping. Costs ~20 s.
10-second stop-go
When Severe offense — a dangerous unsafe release, ignoring blue flags repeatedly.
Effect Stop in the pit box for 10 seconds (no work allowed), then rejoin. Costs ~30 s.
Grid penalty
When Power-unit element changed beyond the season allocation, or causing-a-collision penalty applied to next race.
Effect 5, 10, 15 places, or "back of grid" for severe cases.
Disqualification
When Technical infringement (car illegal under regulations), major safety breach.
Effect Removed from race results entirely.
Parc fermé
A French phrase that translates to "closed park." From the moment a car leaves the pit lane for qualifying on Saturday until the start of the race on Sunday, it is in parc fermé conditions: teams cannot make setup changes. Mechanical adjustments allowed are extremely limited (front wing flap angles, tyre pressures, brake balance).
If a team needs to change something significant — engine, gearbox, suspension geometry — they must declare it, and the driver starts the race from the pit lane behind the rest of the grid.
Why it exists: to stop teams from running aggressive low-fuel qualifying setups and then re-tuning for the race. Whatever wins pole has to also race.
Technical regulations (briefly)
The technical regs are where most of the engineering competition happens. The headline numbers for 2026:
- Minimum weight — 768 kg with driver, dropping ~30 kg from the 2022–2025 era.
- Power unit — 1.6L V6 turbo + ~350 kW MGU-K, no MGU-H. Total combined output approximately 1,000 hp.
- Fuel — 100% sustainable (synthetic or biofuel), 70 kg max for a race.
- Aero — narrower car (1.9 m wide vs 2.0 m), active front and rear wing modes for straight-line drag reduction.
- Cost cap — $135 m per team (excluding driver salaries, top three engineers, marketing, and a few other carve-outs).
Stewards and reviews
Every Grand Prix has a panel of four stewards: three permanent FIA officials plus one rotating "driver steward" (typically a retired F1 driver). They review on-track incidents, hear team representatives if needed, and issue penalties.
Their decisions are appealable but rarely overturned. Race-defining decisions — like the safety-car procedure that decided the 2021 Abu Dhabi championship — are litigated for years afterward in the press but almost never officially.