A Grand Prix runs about an hour and a half. Not much happens at the front for long stretches, and a lot happens everywhere else. The trick is knowing where to look.
The start
- Formation lap. The field does one slow lap to warm tyres and brakes, then lines up on the grid in qualifying order.
- Five red lights come on one by one. When they all go out, the race has started. There is no green light.
- The first corner is the most chaotic moment of the race: everyone is close together on cold tyres. Positions gained or lost here are often never recovered.
Reading the timing screen
Broadcast timing shows two numbers that are easy to confuse. The gap is the time to the leader. The interval is the time to the car directly ahead. For a battle, watch the interval: under one second and the chasing driver gets Overtake Mode on the next lap.
Stories to follow
- Teammate battles. Same car, so it is the purest comparison on the grid.
- The pit window. When the first front-runner pits, everyone else has to decide whether to react. See pit stops and strategy.
- Tyre age. A driver on tyres ten laps fresher can be a second a lap quicker. Watch the gap close.
- The midfield. Points for 6th to 10th can be worth millions in prize money to a team. Those fights are often closer than the one for the win.