FP1 / FP2 / FP3

Free Practice sessions held Friday and Saturday morning. Teams fine-tune car setup before qualifying.

Qualifying (Q1/Q2/Q3)

Three elimination rounds that set the grid. Slowest 5 drivers drop out after Q1 and Q2; Q3 decides pole.

Sprint

A shorter race (~100 km) held on selected Saturdays. Top 8 finishers score points (8-7-6-5-4-3-2-1).

Sprint Shootout

A condensed qualifying session (SQ1/SQ2/SQ3) that sets the grid for the Sprint race.

Formation Lap

The lap before race start where cars leave the grid, warm their tires, and return to their starting slot.

Yellow Flag

Warns of a hazard on track. No overtaking. Double yellow = be prepared to stop.

Red Flag

Session stopped. Cars return to the pit lane. Usually due to a major incident or heavy rain.

Blue Flag

Shown to a lapped driver — must let the faster car pass within 3 blue flags or face a penalty.

Black Flag

Driver disqualified. Must return to the pits immediately.

Black & Orange Flag

Mechanical problem with the car (e.g. loose bodywork). Driver must pit next lap to fix it.

White Flag

Slow-moving vehicle ahead (usually a recovery vehicle).

Safety Car (SC)

Physical safety car leads the field at reduced speed. All cars bunch up behind it until the track is clear.

Virtual Safety Car (VSC)

Electronic speed limit imposed on all cars. Used for minor incidents without needing a physical SC.

Soft (Red)

Fastest but shortest life. Typically used in qualifying and short stints. Designated C3/C4/C5.

Medium (Yellow)

Balanced grip and durability. Most common race compound. C2/C3/C4 depending on circuit.

Hard (White)

Most durable, slowest. Used for long stints in hot races. C0/C1/C2.

Intermediate (Green)

For light rain or damp conditions. Has grooves to disperse water.

Wet (Blue)

For heavy rain. Disperses 85 liters of water per second per tire at 300 km/h.

DRS

Drag Reduction System. Opens a flap on the rear wing to reduce drag, giving a ~10-15 km/h speed boost. Only usable in designated DRS zones when within 1 second of the car ahead.

ERS

Energy Recovery System. Harvests energy from braking (MGU-K) and exhaust heat (MGU-H) to provide a ~160 hp electric boost.

MGU-K

Motor Generator Unit - Kinetic. Recovers braking energy and deploys it as electrical power.

MGU-H

Motor Generator Unit - Heat. Recovers energy from turbocharger exhaust. Being removed in 2026 regulations.

ICE

Internal Combustion Engine. The 1.6L V6 turbo-hybrid power unit. Each driver is allocated 4 per season.

Power Unit

The full engine package: ICE + turbocharger + MGU-K + MGU-H + Energy Store + Control Electronics.

Grid Penalty

Starting position penalty. Usually 5, 10, or back-of-grid, often from gearbox or engine component changes.

Stop & Go

Driver must stop in their pit box for 10 seconds without any work being performed on the car.

Drive-Through

Driver must drive through the pit lane at speed limit without stopping.

Time Penalty

5 or 10 seconds added to race time, or served during a pit stop (before any work starts).

Parc Fermé

The period from qualifying until race start where cars cannot be modified. Changes incur grid penalties.

Formation Lap

The lap before the standing start. Cars warm tires and return to their grid positions.

Pole Position

First place on the starting grid, earned by the fastest time in Q3.

Fastest Lap

Fastest race lap. No longer earns a bonus point (removed in 2025).

Dirty Air

Turbulent airflow behind a leading car. Reduces downforce on the following car, making it harder to corner.

Slipstream

The low-pressure wake behind a car, used by trailing cars to gain speed on straights.

Delta Time

The time difference (positive or negative) to a reference lap, usually the leader or personal best.

Undercut

Pitting earlier than a rival to gain track position through faster laps on fresh tires before they pit.

Overcut

Pitting later than a rival, banking on clean air to set faster lap times while they struggle on worn tires.

Apex

The innermost point of a corner. Clipping the apex produces the smoothest, fastest line.

Track Limits

The white lines at the edge of the circuit. Going beyond them can result in lap time deletion or penalties.

Sector

Each lap is split into 3 sectors (S1, S2, S3). Used for timing and comparing performance.

Mini-Sector

Smaller divisions within each sector (usually ~20 per lap), used for precise performance analysis.

Speed Trap

A specific point on the main straight where car top speed is measured — great for comparing engine power.

DRS Zone

A designated straight where DRS can be activated. Most circuits have 1-3 zones.

Telemetry

Real-time car data: speed, RPM, throttle, brake, gear, G-forces, tire temps. Sampled at ~100 Hz.

Stint

A continuous run on a set of tires, from leaving the pit to the next pit stop (or race end).

Gap to Leader

Time difference to the race leader, updated every sector.

Interval

Time difference to the car directly ahead.