F1 for Dummies - Part 2: Race Calendar and Race weekends

 In this part, we are going to talk about the race calendar, the race weekend, and how the points system works.

Race Calendar

The Formula One season runs from March to late November/early December for most years not affected by a deadly pandemic. The season is usually preceded by a pre-season testing that runs over a few days about a few weeks before the first race in March. There are usually somewhere around 20 races in the calendar. This year, the season of 2021, there are 23 races spread across the globe. 

Race Weekend

Typically, Thursdays before the race is filled with several interviews and press engagements for the drivers and some of the management. Each race is then preceded by 3 practice sessions and a qualifying lap, and the weekend spans across 3 days - Friday to Sunday. A typical Race weekend looks like this: 

Practice sessions

The first 2 one-hour long sessions takes place on Friday, followed by one last practice session on Saturday. The teams and the drivers do their best to learn about the track and how their cars are performing on it. They get their last chance to tweak the car after the third practice session before going into qualifying.

Qualifying

Qualifying session, that decides the starting grid positions of all drivers for the race, happens on Saturday typically, and it is divided into three sectors. The basic principle of qualifying is the fastest lap wins. The sessions are fixed in terms of time interval, and each car in the session has a chance to go out and drive the fastest lap. The first session - the Q1 session - lasts for 18 minutes and all 20 cars are eligible to go out and try for the fastest lap. At the end of the session, the 5 slowest cars are eliminated. The remaining 15 cars get to try again in Q2 which lasts for 15 minutes. At the end of Q2, the 5 slowest cars are again eliminated. The top 10 then go to Q3 which is of 12 minutes. The Q3 shootout finally decides on who gets the pole position i.e. who had the fastest one lap. The pole position holder gets a trophy tyre. This is how the grid for the race is finally set.

The one thing to remember is that the 10 cars that make it into Q3 have to start the race the next day on the same set of tyres they set their fastest lap on in Q2. Everyone else can choose their preferred set of starting tyres.

Race

Finally the Sunday is race day. The driver that crosses the chequered flag before anybody else is the winner. There is one pitstop mandatory for all races, and cars often times need more than just that one. It is a good game of strategy as well as a spectacular display of speed. The top 10 finishers in a race gets points. The person that finishes in the top 10 and drives the fastest lap in the race is awarded with an extra point.

In conclusion, that is how a race weekend is structured. There are many more nuances that I am not covering here. I will be back with Part 3 soon! Till then... keep smiling and enjoy Monaco!