Learn

How the sport works, in plain language, with the rules as they stand in 2026 and a figure from the site's data at the end of each page. Twelve pages, each readable in a few minutes.

Short answers to common questions are on the questions page; longer pieces built on the numbers are under articles; every rule change since 1950 is dated on the rules timeline.

Page	What it covers
How a Formula 1 race weekend works	The sessions of an F1 weekend in order: practice, qualifying and the race, how a sprint weekend differs, and the 2026 session times from this site's calendar.
How Formula 1 qualifying works	F1's three-part knockout qualifying: who drops out in Q1 and Q2, how long each part lasts, grid penalties, and why the fastest time is not always pole position.
How points and the two championships work	How an F1 race pays points, how the drivers' and constructors' championships are counted, tie-breaks, reduced points for shortened races.
Sprint races explained	What a Formula 1 sprint is, how the sprint weekend runs, the points it pays, which 2026 rounds have one, and how the format has changed since 2021.
Tyres, compounds and pit stops	The Pirelli compounds, which 3 are used each weekend, the two-compound rule, what a pit stop is for, and how many stops an F1 race usually takes.
Safety car, virtual safety car and red flags	What each one does to a race, when they are used, the restart rules, and how often they happen, from the lap data of every race since 1993.
DRS, active aerodynamics and the overtake mode	What DRS was from 2011 to 2025, what replaced it in 2026 (movable wings and an electrical boost), and where F1 overtaking happens, from results since 2010.
Penalties: time, grid, drive-through and penalty points	The penalties F1 stewards can give, what each costs, how a time penalty is served, grid penalties for new parts, and the points that lead to a race ban.
The flags and what each one means	Every flag shown to Formula 1 drivers, from yellow and double yellow to the black flag, with what the driver must do and what it changes on the lap chart.
How to read a lap chart	What the lap chart and the race-history chart on each race page show: positions after every lap, pit stops, safety cars, and where a race was won.
Teams, constructors and power units	Team, constructor and engine supplier: the difference, the 11 F1 teams of 2026, who builds their power units, and how the constructors' title works.
The calendar: when and where the season runs	How the 23-round 2026 F1 season is laid out, why race start times vary, how to read session times in your time zone, and how the calendar has grown since 1950.