With the surge of F1 in pop culture with the new F1 movie starring Brad Pitt recently hitting theaters, including a song from talented and widely known artist Tate McRae; I believe it’s only natural that there will be some new interest in the sport. As someone who’s followed the sport for a few years now, let’s break it down and get you all into it.
What is F1?
So what even is Formula 1 and how is it different from any other motorsport series like NASCAR or INDYCAR? Well for starters, F1 is the highest level (or pinnacle) of motorsport; there’s nothing above it and many drivers want to make it to F1. However, it’s extremely hard to reach.. Why? Well there’s only 10 teams with 2 drivers per team, making there 20 spots available to the thousands of motorsport drivers in the world. Each race is called a ‘grand prix’and every grand prix takes place during a weekend (Friday, Saturday and Sunday). Races are held all over the world; including places like Monaco, Japan, Italy, Saudi Arabia, Brazil and even in the U.S. in cities like Las Vegas, Miami and Austin, Texas.
Races and race weekends are crucial to earn points for the championship. In F1 there are 2 championships that happen simultaneously; the drivers championship and the constructors championship. The drivers championship is exactly as it seems, the points earned during the weekend by the driver that scored them (based on their finishing place) is added to the total points to find the ‘top’ driver for the season, or the driver who scored the most points. The constructors championship is a little more complex. Since each team has 2 drivers, throughout the weekend the points scored by drivers for each team are totalled and tallied against other teams throughout the season to see which constructor, or team, was the best. Now you might think, “well the drivers champion and the constructors champion are probably always the same since they’re the best” but we’ll get to that later…
Who’s on the Grid?
As mentioned earlier, there’s 20 drivers on the grid which breaks down to 10 teams and 2 drivers per team. Some teams you might recognize could be Ferrari, Red Bull, Mclaren, and Mercades; but there are many more. Some of the more recognized drivers on these teams that have also decorated the F1 grid for many years include Lewis Hamilton, Max Verstappen, Charles Leclerc and Fernando Alonso.
Key Terms
Race Strategy: Since each track is different, new race strategies are used for every weekend. These include when the drivers will come in for a pit stop, what tires they’ll use, and how to react to any chaos on track in order to get the highest position and most points possible. Factors that influence race strategy are; how likely a safety car is, temperature of the area/track, if it will rain, how many tires a team has, and many other things.
Pit Stops: a mandatory stop during the race to get tires changed or get pieces fixed on the car. Pit stops only last about 3 seconds and are crucial to the race strategy; you’ll hear terms like “box, box” when teams want to tell the driver to bring the car in for a pit stop.
Safety Car: A car that comes out when there’s an accident to slow everyone down.
Qualifying: A mini “race” that usually occurs on Saturday before the race on Sunday. The faster the lap is, the better starting position for the race on Sunday.
Grid: the lineup of where each driver starts on Sunday.
DRS (Drag Reduction System): an adjustable flap on the rear wing of the car that increases the top speed of the car to allow passing easier, there are certain zones where it can be activated and can only be used within 1 second of the car in front.
Paddock: The behind the scenes area where teams have their “headquarters” for the weekend. This area includes things like team staff, equipment, media, catering, and race officials.
Pits or Pit Lane: Where the cars live and get worked on. Also where cars come in from the race track for ‘pit stops’ during the race.
Constructor: another way of saying the different teams or the teams represented that construct the car.
Why is it so fun to watch?
I can’t begin to explain why F1 is so entertaining. Starting with the team dynamic, because there’s 2 drivers on each team there’s 2 people driving pretty much the exact same car. While they may be “teammates” they’re actually each other’s biggest rivals. Imagine your teammate beating you in a race in the same car that you have, basically proving that they’re a better driver. This causes a lot of tension, especially when both drivers are good and fighting for top championship spots. Teammates crash into each other, ignore orders from their team to help out their teammate, and get heated over the radio, which is broadcast to everyone watching the race. A bad teammate dynamic can be catastrophic for a team, as they’re fighting against each other for the drivers championship but still having to work together to get points for the constructors championship. As mentioned earlier, the drivers championship winner may not always be from the same team as the constructors championship winner. Most recently, in the 2024 season Mclaren won the constructors championship while the drivers championship went to Red Bull Racing driver Max Verstappen. In fact, in that season Red Bull Racing finished 3rd in the constructors championship behind Mclaren and Ferrari. This can happen because of a number of reasons, including poor performance from one of the drivers on the team, leading them to score less points and have the constructors points for that season come mostly from the higher performing driver.
Every team strives to treat their drivers equally and let them battle on the track, but some teams are very apparent that they have a #1 driver and a #2 driver that isn’t as valued. Take Red Bull Racing for example, Max Verstappen has been the star of the show for them as he’s won multiple races and world championships over the years. He’s had 7 teammates while at Red Bull, including some mid season swaps which stir up serious drama. Red Bull is special because they have a development team in F1 as well, meaning they can switch their drivers around from Red Bull to their development team Racing Bulls. Even this season, Red Bull driver, Liam Lawson, was demoted to Racing Bulls after only 2 races with the team; being swapped with Racing Bulls driver Yuki Tsunoda. This sparked a lot of conversation about how hard Red Bull is, only giving a newer driver 2 races to perform before they’re demoted to a lower team.
Also, the world of single seater, open wheel racing is pretty small when you get down to it. Most of the drivers today have been racing each other since they were a kid and grew up racing. Some of the older drivers, like Fernando Alonso and Lewis Hamilton, were even the idols of these younger drivers – and now they’re racing against them. This also leads to some interesting dynamics in the sport. For example, a couple seasons ago one of the teams, Alpine, had a team of drivers that had been actual enemies since they were kids, making for some interesting clashes on track when they were forced to work together.
On track during the race, the race strategy is so crucial and can cause a lot of drama as well. Bad pit stops, unexpected rain, choosing the wrong tire, red flags that stop the race, safety cars, and penalties, just to name a few things that can throw a wrench in a team’s race strategy. Also on track action can be so unpredictable. You never know when a driver is going to crash, spin out, or even lose control of the car. Things can also go wrong on the mechanical and technical side of things as well. Power failures can result in a driver’s race ending, and you never know if brakes will fail, or if there’s overheating until it happens. Just look at the 2021 Azerbaijan Grand Prix, where Max Verstappen was comfortably cruising to victory when just a few laps from the end of the race his tire blew out, causing him to not finish and there to be a dramatic end to see who would take home 1st place.
How to start watching
Races are shown on Sundays on a variety of channels and platforms. ESPN channels on cable and ESPN+ are both great ways to watch races or qualifying. Formula 1 also has their own streaming service, F1 TV that does require a subscription but allows for a lot more insight into races, qualifying and practice sessions.
One thing to note is that since F1 is a worldwide sport, it can happen at any hour of the day. If you’re on the East Coast of the U.S. certain races may take place at insane hours. Some races to look out for are Australia, usually starts around 12am; China, usually starts around 3am; Saudi Arabia, usually starts around 1am; and Japan, usually starts around 1am.
Many people also get into F1 from Netflix’s “Drive to Survive” series, where each season follows the drama that occurred throughout the year. Drive to Survive gives a deeper insight to the politics behind the scenes that aren’t always shown on the track and of course, all the drama.
You’re not going to become an expert overnight, you don’t need to know all the lingo or memorize all the race tracks to get into Formula 1. You just need an open mind, a little curiosity, and maybe a favorite driver or team to root for. The new movie, hype around the sport, or Drive to Survive might have gotten your attention. But the sport itself? That’s what will keep you watching.