Formula 1 Key Terms

A championship for drivers began in 1950. The aim is to score points by finishing as high as possible in one of the many races – or Grand Prix – held in various locations around the world. Running from March to December, Formula 1 has expanded to 24 events across Europe, the Americas, the Middle East, South East Asia and Australia. A separate championship for the cars, known as the Constructors’ Championship (founded in 1958) runs in parallel.

The Fédération Internationale de l’Automobile is the governing body for motorsport that also represents the interests of motoring organizations around the world. Formula 1 is today owned by US firm Liberty Media and is responsible for the commercial rights of the sport.  Between the two organizations, they promote and administrate the World Championship and manage the relationships between the teams and circuits.

Founded in 2023, this new single-seater category has been designed to develop and prepare female driver to progress to higher levels of competition. The category is designed to give drivers access to more track time, as well as support with technical, physical, and mental preparation to progress to Formula 3 and join the road to F1. With seven rounds this year, the junior series will feature two races during the Miami F1 weekend. Each team has one car affiliated to one of the ten Formula 1 teams.

Currently the sport features ten teams which must run two drivers each. Each team is responsible for the construction and running of their own car and they either buy an engine or build their own. Seven teams are based in the UK, one in Switzerland and two in Italy. Ferrari have competed in the World Championship since its inaugural year in 1950. Bigger teams employ as many as 700 staff.

The average length of a circuit is three miles (5km) and includes historic locations, such as Monza in Italy and Silverstone in the UK which have been used since 1950. Other tracks utilize public roads, such as the street courses in Monaco or Singapore (the latter holds a race under floodlights). New, ultra-modern circuits, such as Miami, have raised the bar with regards to fan experience and all tracks are licensed for safety, featuring gravel traps and debris fencing to protect spectators and reduce the risk of injury to drivers.

A Formula 1 car has extraordinary performance with a top speed of 215mph and acceleration figures of 0-60mph in 2.4 seconds. Perhaps more impressive is the braking from 215mph to 75mph in just 122 meters. The cars don’t refuel in the race and start with 150 liters (40 gallons) of petrol (including a biofuel element) and weigh around 750kg (1,653 lbs.) in total.

Qualifying determines the grid for the race. Qualifying is split into three parts: Q1, Q2, and Q3. Each session lasts for a specific amount of time and eliminates a number of cars with Q1 lasting 18 minutes (eliminating five drivers) Q2 lasting 15 minutes (another five), and Q3 lasting 12 minutes to determine the order of the top 10 on the grid.

The place at the front of the grid where the fastest driver sits to start the race.

Points are awarded at the end of the race from the winner to tenth place in the following sequence (it’s the same for teams): 25-18-15-12-10-8-6-4-2-1. Half points are awarded if the full race distance (roughly 190 miles) is not completed for any reason, usually due to bad weather. The top three drivers stand on the podium and are presented with trophies.

No on-track running is allowed in January, but in February an official three-day test session is held for teams to test their new cars for the first time. New cars are built each season and no testing is allowed outside of race weekends. An exception is a Young Driver test at the end of the year to trial up-and-coming talent.

While not allowing on-track running, teams turn to other methods to test new parts as they constantly strive to upgrade their cars. Trials of models in smaller scale wind tunnels are used in parallel with mathematical simulations in Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD). Simulators are also used to help test performance upgrades in the virtual world.

Ever since sponsorship first appeared on racing cars in the late 1960s, teams have been striving to generate money to fund their campaigns. In an attempt to control spending, the FIA have recently imposed a budget cap of approximately $150m per annum, although drivers are not included in the cap. The intention is to make the racing more competitive to bring the lesser-resourced teams closer to the front.

This is an instruction from the pit wall to the driver to come into the pits to change tires. In dry-weather, it is mandatory to run two different types of compound tire during the race — choosing from either the hard, medium or soft Pirelli rubber. Wet-weather tires must be used if it rains. Pitstops are highly choreographed in which all four wheels and tires are changed in around two seconds.

There are both sporting and technical penalties, with the latter usually resulting in a grid penalty — although more severe indiscretions can lead to disqualification from a race. Sporting penalties include things like jumping the start, cutting corners or causing a collision and these are usually served as time penalties during a race.

Reducing the chances of death or injury for drivers has been paramount over the past 74 years of the World Championship. Today drivers must wear protective helmets, fire-proof overalls, six-point harness seatbelts, while their cars undergo strict impact testing (they are made of super strong carbon fiber) and feature a halo around the cockpit to deflect debris or other cars from striking a driver.

The Sprint takes place at six venues in 2024 and Miami will be the second event to host this new weekend format. Two practice sessions are replaced by a Sprint Qualifying (held on Friday afternoon) and a shorter-distance Sprint race on Saturday lunchtime. The Sprint is one-third of the distance of a Grand Prix and with no pit stops, is designed to encourage flat-out racing to the flag. Points are awarded for top eight as follows: 8-7-6-5-4-3-2-1.

Taking place on Friday afternoon, this follows a similar format to traditional Qualifying, with five drivers eliminated at each stage, but with a shorter time for each session to increase the jeopardy. The three stages, SQ1, SQ2 and SQ3 last 12 minutes, 10 minutes and just eight minutes respectively. Medium compound tyres are mandatory for the first two sessions, while softs must be used for SQ3.

Around the circuit are a system of flags to warn drivers of danger ahead. The yellow flag means there is an incident and a driver must slow down or be prepared to stop. Once clear of the danger a green flag is flown – by volunteer marshals and on electronic panels. If there is a lot of debris or a car needs to be recovered, the Safety Car is deployed and slows everyone down and no overtaking is allowed. If the incident is very serious, or during practice, a red flag is displayed to stop the session. On occasion a Virtual Safety Car (VSC) is used whereby all competitors on track must slow down but no car appears to close-up the field.

A blue flag is waved to a slower car to tell him the leader needs to pass. Failure to react to the blue flags will result in a penalty. Lapped cars may be allowed to return to the lead lap during a Safety Car period.

Introduced in 2011 to reduce the workload on mechanics traveling across the world in a 24-race season, there is a limit on the times teams are allowed in the pit garages and paddock — otherwise they would be there all night.

The holy grail for F1 designers, whereby they look to control the airflow around the car (and through the floor and diffuser) to pin the car down on the road to enable a driver to take a corner faster.

The Drag Reduction System is an element in the rear wing that flips up which results is less drag and therefore a higher top speed, helping a car to overtake. There are two to three DRS zones on each track (three in Miami) but the activation only works if you are within a second of the car in front.

These are the three one-hour Free Practice sessions that take place during the weekend prior to qualifying (two on Friday, one on Saturday morning). It allows drivers and engineers to setup their cars for optimum performance in qualifying and for the race. During a Sprint weekend, FP2 and FP3 don’t take place.

A bonus point is awarded to the driver who sets the fastest lap of the race, but only if they are running in one of the top ten positions.

This is the sensation in a race car that all drivers dislike. To understeer going into a corner means the front of the car washes out and runs wide. There is no front-end grip and the result is often contact with the wall. In contrast, oversteer is when the rear of the car steps out of line and causes a driver to spin off.

Four manufacturers supply engines to the ten teams: Mercedes, Ferrari, Renault and Honda. Since 2014 the power unit has been a 1.6-litre V6 hybrid turbo. There are strict rules on longevity so changing parts will result in penalties for competitors. F1 loves acronyms so the hybrid system of the PU has two different Motor Generator Units, the MGU-H (extracting heat from the turbo) and the MGU-K (the K is harvesting kinetic energy from the crankshaft).

These are little bits of rubber that build-up off the racing line as a result of tire degradation. Running wide onto these can cause a driver to lose grip and potentially run off-track.

During a Grand Prix, when you decide to change tires is part of a strategic game to out-fox a competitor. As a driver suffers tire wear, they may decide to pit early and gain an advantage on a rival ahead by running laps on fresher rubber. When his rival pits, they will then emerge behind — and the place has been gained. This is known as the undercut.

This is the area behind the pitlane and garages where the teams set up their motorhomes (or bespoke hospitality units for non-European events) and is the focus of F1 life for the weekend. Generally, it’s the place to see and be seen. In Miami this Team Village is situated on the football field of Hard Rock Stadium and General Admission Campus Pass holders can view the goings-on from the 300 level.

A luxury hospitality experience that is usually located in the main pit building above the garages overlooking the pitlane and start/finish straight. This is where VIPs mingle with celebrities and get to enjoy world-class dining and service. In Miami a brand-new permanent building was put in place for 2023.

Cars are regularly scrutineered to ensure they adhere to the very strict technical rules. There is a “closed park” where every car goes after qualifying and cannot be touched by any personnel until they are given the green light from the regulators, the FIA.

The familiar black-and-white checker is as old as motor racing itself and is waved at the end of a practice session, or on the final lap of the race to denote the finish.