Introducing Formula 1 - Vroom Vroom
- Phil Kohr
- 1 day ago
- 6 min read
"It is not enough to be determined to make a difference. You must be determined to make the difference." - Sir Jackie Stewart
Phil here again, and I’ll be here all this week, covering a mixture of topics. Unlike my last stint, where I did a 5-part series, this week it will just be a mix. Today, I am going to get into one of my favourite sports that I enjoy - Formula 1 racing. I have zero interest in motorsport in general, Formula 1 is it for me. Motorsport here in the US usually includes things like Nascar, which is not something I have any interest in. Perhaps it has a bad rap because the usual fan demographic is, well, it’s a type. I could be generalizing, but I also don’t see the appeal of driving in an oval for x amount of laps either. We do also have IndyCar, which some might think is similar to Formula 1, but it isn’t, for varying reasons. The cars are all identical so it comes down a lot to driver skill, which is not inherently bad. It’s good. But the F1 style of giving teams the freedom to innovate independently is also good. There is not as much money in it, it’s very US centric (contrary to our own popular belief, we are not the world). It is a sport on the rise though, so I may end up following it in future.
What to Expect in This Post
In this post, I’ll be breaking down the fundamentals of Formula 1, from the race weekend structure to the key rules and why it’s such an exciting sport.
What is Formula 1? Car Go Vroom?
Formula 1 is the highest class of single-seater auto racing sanctioned by the Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile (FIA). It’s a global sport, with beginnings in Europe, but has grown to include most continents, from the aforementioned, to Asia, the Americas, and within a year or two, potentially Africa.
It’s not just about driving fast, it’s about engineering, strategy, and teamwork. For the 20 best drivers on the grid, and in the world, to succeed, they depend on hundreds, sometimes more, to create the car that puts them in the hunt for podium glory. The technology designed to improve F1 cars have led to breakthroughs that have flowed through to the cars we drive today. ABS braking? F1. Traction control? F1. Independent wheel suspension? F1. Aerodynamics, carbon fiber, paddle shifting, and so many more technological advancements originated in F1. The more I learned about it, the more fascinated I became.
A friend of mine got me interested in the sport, which at first I didn’t think all that much of. Fast car go vroom and all that. It also, in stark contrast to Motorsport here, aimed at a higher calibre fanbase. More than the “Woo Nascar!” types. It had the air of a European centric sport. Sort of elitist. But the more I got into it, the more I became fascinated by the finer points, the competition, the technical achievements, and just how incredibly talented the drivers are. So let me get into a big of a crash course into some of the basics.
I’ve been watching F1 for around 4-5 years now. It’s been a learning curve, for sure. At first I had questions about why such and such happened, but over time it started to sink in. There are a lot of rules teams have to abide by, but we might save those for another day.
Key Players and Championships
There are 10 teams on the grid, soon to be 11 in 2026. Each team has two drivers. There are two championships that each are competing for. The Constructors Championship, which is the competition between the two teams. Prize money is given to a team based on where they place at the end of the season, based on the points they’ve earned each race. Obviously first gets highest amount, and tenth gets the least. This is incredibly important for more than just pride, because the prize money is used to pay bonuses to all the hard working people behind the scenes for each team, but also because it pays for the development of the car for the next season.
The second major championship is the big one, at least for prestige. It’s the World Driver’s Championship. This one is where the driver’s compete for the right to call themselves the greatest driver in the world for that year. It’s what all drivers want. You may not be familiar with F1, but some of the most notable champions over the years include, Sir Jackie Stewart, Ayrton Senna, Sebastian Vettel, Fernando Alonso, Nicki Lauda, Michael Schumacher, and most recently, two of the greatest of all time, Max Verstappen, and the incomparable Sir Lewis Hamilton.
Those are the two prizes that drivers and teams compete for over 24 races this year. Let’s get to the fun part…
The Race Weekend Breakdown
Race Week
Typically, on a regular race week, the first day on the track would have two free practice sessions. Think of it as an opportunity for teams to spend one hour (the length of a session) on the track, getting to learn how their car performs and what changes they might want to make to their setup. The next day there is Free Practice 3, the final practice session. Following FP3, later that same day is a very important event - qualifying.
Qualifying
Qualifying is where the starting positions for race day are decided and it can make or break how a team and their drivers perform on race day. On some tracks, like Monaco (my least favourite track), where you finish in qualifying, and where you start on the grid, can often be how you end up in the race finish, because overtaking is difficult on that track. Basically, if you qualify better, you improve your odds for race day.
Your objective in qualifying is get the fastest lap time you can, and obviously you want to do better than any other driver. Qualifying is broken up into three sections:
Q1 - 18 minutes, bottom 5 drivers are eliminated and start where they finish from 16th to 20th.
Q2 - 15 minutes, next slowest 5 drivers are eliminated and start where they finish, from 11th to 15th.
Q3 - 12 minutes, no eliminations, but the drivers all start in order of fastest lap time to slowest, from 1st to 10th.
It’s one of the more exciting parts of the week for me, because it’s where I get to see if a driver I like is going to possibly have a great race day, which is where we are at now! Vroom vroom.
Race Day
This is what it all comes down to. Usually held on a Sunday, it’s the end of the race week. This is what it all comes down to. 50+ tracks, dependent on each track, the drivers race their butts off to get on the podium. The podium is for first, second, and third.
The race starts with a formation lap to get the cars all warmed up. The drivers then put their cars into the position they qualified for. The red lights count down the race start, then it’s lights out and away we go!
It isn’t just a matter of racing now, but a lot of team strategy. Each race has a mandatory pit stop, as each car must use two different sets of compound tyres, which you’ll hear different names for, but basically, wet, soft, medium, or hards cover it generally. Soft tyres go faster, but degrade faster, whereas hard tyres last longer and degrade slower, but take longer to warm up. Teams will often use different strategies for each driver and it can make or break a race.
You only get points if you finish in the top 10. Points are critical for the two championships I told you about earlier. Obviously more points if you finish first, but for midfield teams, getting those 1 or 2 points for finishing 9th or 10th can be critical by season’s end.
Why F1 is Exciting
F1 is an exhilarating sport to watch. In the end, it all comes down to who wins, but sometimes I get a blast watching the midfield battles, or the cars in the back having their little competitions.
As I write this, I’m waiting for the GP in Bahrain. Tomorrow’s article I will cover a bit more of F1, but mostly I’ll cover the actual race. I am hoping Australian Oscar Piastri can do well. I’m also hoping New Zealander Liam Lawson can put himself in the points.
I hope you’ve enjoyed my little basic introduction to a sport I’m incredibly passionate about. It’s a far cry from another sport I’m becoming a huge fan of, ever since I started working with Sid, and that’s golf. Hopefully you guys like learning about it and I’ll cover it in future blogs now and then. For now, I’m off to research on some of the other topics I’ll be covering from wed-fri. A bit of AI, a bit of golf, and a lot of Phil. Until tomorrow, I’m off to watch the race. If you’re new to F1, what questions do you have? Hit me up, I’d love to answer them. Alternatively, check out this video from Marques Brownlee, where he gives some first hand insights to F1.