Formula One

Juan Manuel Fangio's 1951 title-winning Alfa Romeo 159

After a hiatus in European motor racing brought about by the outbreak of World War II in Europe in 1939, the Italian Giuseppe Farina in his Alfa Romeo won the first World Championship for Drivers in 1950, narrowly defeating his Argentine teammate Juan Manuel Fangio. However, Fangio won the title in 1951, 1954, 1955, 1956, and 1957 (his record of five World Championship titles stood for 45 years until German driver Michael Schumacher took his sixth title in 2003). Fangio's streak was interrupted (after an injury) by two-time champion Alberto Ascari of Ferrari. Although the UK's Stirling Moss was able to compete regularly, he was never able to win the world championship and is now widely considered statistically to be the greatest driver never to have won the title. In a seven-year span between 1955 and 1961 Moss finished as championship runner-up four times and in third place the other three times.[14][15] Fangio, however, has a reputation for dominating Formula One's first decade and has long been considered the "Grand Master" of Formula One.

This period featured teams managed by road-car manufacturers Alfa Romeo, Ferrari, Mercedes-Benz, and Maserati; all of which had competed before the war. The first seasons featured pre-war cars like Alfa's 158. They were front-engined, with narrow tyres and 1.5-litre supercharged or 4.5-litre naturally aspirated engines. The 1952 and 1953 World Championships were run to Formula Two regulations, for smaller, less powerful cars, due to concerns over the paucity of Formula One cars available.[16][17] When a new Formula One formula, for engines limited to 2.5 litres, was reinstated to the world championship for 1954, Mercedes-Benz introduced the advanced W196, which featured innovations such as desmodromic valves and fuel injection as well as enclosed streamlined bodywork. Mercedes drivers won the championship for two years, before the team withdrew from all motorsport in the wake of the 1955 Le Mans disaster.[18]

An era of British dominance was ushered in by Mike Hawthorn and Vanwall's championship wins in 1958, although Stirling Moss had been at the forefront of the sport without ever securing the world title. Between Hawthorn, Jim Clark, Jackie Stewart, John Surtees and Graham Hill, British drivers won nine Drivers' Championships and British teams won fourteen Constructors' Championship titles between 1958 and 1974. The iconic British Racing Green Lotus, with a revolutionary aluminium-sheet monocoque chassis instead of the traditional space-frame design, was the dominant car, and in 1968, the team broke new boundaries, when they were the first to carry advertising on their cars.[19]

Stirling Moss's Lotus 18 at the Nürburgring during 1961

The first major technological development, Bugatti's re-introduction of mid-engined cars (following Ferdinand Porsche's pioneering Auto Unions of the 1930s), occurred with the Type 251, which was unsuccessful. Australian Jack Brabham, world champion during 1959, 1960, and 1966, soon proved the mid-engined design's superiority. By 1961, all regular competitors had switched to mid-engined cars. The Ferguson P99, a four-wheel drive design, was the last front-engined F1 car to enter a world championship race. It was entered in the 1961 British Grand Prix, the only front-engined car to compete that year.[20]

During 1962, Lotus introduced a car with an aluminium-sheet monocoque chassis instead of the traditional space-frame design. This proved to be the greatest technological breakthrough since the introduction of mid-engined cars. During 1968, Rhodesian duo John Love and Sam Tingle were the first to run cigarette sponsorship on their cars, which ran in orange, brown and gold Team Gunston colours in the South African Grand Prix on 1 January 1968, five months before Lotus painted an Imperial Tobacco livery on their cars, thus introducing sponsorship to the sport.[21][22]

Aerodynamic downforce slowly gained importance in car design with the appearance of aerofoils during the late 1960s. During the late 1970s, Lotus introduced ground-effect aerodynamics (previously used on Jim Hall's Chaparral 2J during 1970) that provided enormous downforce and greatly increased cornering speeds. So great were the aerodynamic forces pressing the cars to the track (up to five times the car's weight), extremely stiff springs were needed to maintain a constant ride height, leaving the suspension virtually solid, depending entirely on the tyres for any small amount of cushioning of the car and driver from irregularities of the road surface.[23]

Clay Regazzoni driving for Ferrari at the 1976 German Grand Prix

Beginning in the 1970s, Bernie Ecclestone rearranged the management of Formula One's commercial rights; he is widely credited with transforming the sport into the multibillion-dollar business it now is.[24][25] When Ecclestone bought the Brabham team during 1971, he gained a seat on the Formula One Constructors' Association and during 1978 he became its president. Previously, the circuit owners controlled the income of the teams and negotiated with each individually; however, Ecclestone persuaded the teams to "hunt as a pack" through FOCA.[25] He offered Formula One to circuit owners as a package, which they could take or leave. In return for the package, almost all that was required was to surrender trackside advertising.[24]

The formation of the Fédération Internationale du Sport Automobile (FISA) during 1979 set off the FISA–FOCA controversy, during which FISA and its president Jean-Marie Balestre disputed repeatedly with FOCA over television revenues and technical regulations.[26] The Guardian said of FOCA that Ecclestone and Max Mosley "used it to wage a guerrilla war with a very long-term aim in view". FOCA threatened to establish a rival series, boycotted a Grand Prix and FISA withdrew its sanction from races.[24] The result was the 1981 Concorde Agreement, which guaranteed technical stability, as teams were to be given reasonable notice of new regulations.[27] Although FISA asserted its right to the TV revenues, it handed the administration of those rights to FOCA.[28]

Stefan Bellof driving for Tyrrell at the 1984 Dallas Grand Prix

FISA imposed a ban on ground-effect aerodynamics during 1983.[29] By then, however, turbocharged engines, which Renault had pioneered in 1977, were producing over 520 kW (700 bhp) and were essential to be competitive. By 1986, a BMW turbocharged engine achieved a flash reading of 5.5 bar (80 psi) pressure, estimated to be over 970 kW (1,300 bhp) in qualifying for the Italian Grand Prix. The next year, power in race trim reached around 820 kW (1,100 bhp), with boost pressure limited to only 4.0 bar.[30] These cars were the most powerful open-wheel circuit racing cars ever. To reduce engine power output and thus speeds, the FIA limited fuel tank capacity in 1984, and boost pressures in 1988, before banning turbocharged engines completely in 1989.[31]

The development of electronic driver aids began during the 1980s. Lotus began to develop a system of active suspension, which first appeared during 1982 on the Lotus 91. By 1987, this system had been perfected and was driven to victory by Ayrton Senna in the Monaco Grand Prix that year. In the early 1990s other teams followed suit and semi-automatic gearboxes and traction control were a natural progression. The FIA, due to complaints that technology was determining the outcome of races more than driver skill, banned many such aids for 1994. This resulted in cars that were previously dependent on electronic aids becoming very "twitchy" and difficult to drive (particularly the Williams FW16). Many observers felt the ban on driver aids was in name only as they "proved difficult to police effectively".[32]

The teams signed a second Concorde Agreement during 1992 and a third in 1997, which expired on the last day of 2007.[33]

Stefan Johansson driving for Ferrari at the 1985 European Grand Prix

On the track, the McLaren and Williams teams dominated the 1980s and 1990s, with Brabham also being competitive during the early part of the 1980s, winning two Drivers' Championships with Nelson Piquet. Powered by Porsche, Honda, and Mercedes-Benz, McLaren won sixteen championships (seven constructors' and nine drivers') in that period, while Williams used engines from Ford, Honda, and Renault to also win sixteen titles (nine constructors' and seven drivers'). The rivalry between racers Ayrton Senna and Alain Prost became F1's central focus during 1988 and continued until Prost retired at the end of 1993. Senna died at the 1994 San Marino Grand Prix after crashing into a wall on the exit of the notorious curve Tamburello, having taken over Prost's lead drive at Williams that year. The FIA worked to improve the sport's safety standards since that weekend, during which Roland Ratzenberger also lost his life in an accident during Saturday qualifying. No driver died of injuries sustained on the track at the wheel of a Formula One car for 20 years until the 2014 Japanese Grand Prix, where Jules Bianchi collided with a recovery vehicle after aquaplaning off the circuit. Since 1994, three track marshals have lost their lives, one at the 2000 Italian Grand Prix,[34] the second at the 2001 Australian Grand Prix[34] and the third at the 2013 Canadian Grand Prix.

Since the deaths of Senna and Ratzenberger, the FIA has used safety as a reason to impose rule changes that otherwise, under the Concorde Agreement, would have had to be agreed upon by all the teams – most notably the changes introduced for 1998. This so-called 'narrow track' era resulted in cars with smaller rear tyres, a narrower track overall, and the introduction of grooved tyres to reduce mechanical grip. There were to be four grooves on the front (three in the first year) and rear that ran through the entire circumference of the tyre. The objective was to reduce cornering speeds and to produce racing similar to rainy conditions by enforcing a smaller contact patch between tyre and track. This, according to the FIA, was to reduce cornering speeds in the interest of safety.[35]

Damon Hill driving for Williams at the 1995 Canadian Grand Prix

Results were mixed as the lack of mechanical grip resulted in the more ingenious designers clawing back the deficit with aerodynamic grip – pushing more force onto the tyres through wings and aerodynamic devices, which in turn resulted in less overtaking as these devices tended to make the wake behind the car 'dirty' (turbulent), preventing other cars from following closely due to their dependence on 'clean' air to make the car stick to the track. The grooved tyres also had the unfortunate side effect of initially being of a harder compound to be able to hold the grooved tread blocks, which resulted in spectacular accidents in times of aerodynamic grip failure as the harder compound could not grip the track as well.

Drivers from McLaren, Williams, Renault (formerly Benetton), and Ferrari, dubbed the "Big Four", won every World Championship from 1984 to 2008. The teams won every Constructors' Championship from 1979 to 2008 as well as placing themselves as the top four teams in the Constructors' Championship in every season between 1989 and 1997, and winning every race but one (the 1996 Monaco Grand Prix) between 1988 and 1997. Due to the technological advances of the 1990s, the cost of competing in Formula One increased dramatically. This increased financial burdens, combined with the dominance of four teams (largely funded by big car manufacturers such as Mercedes-Benz), caused the poorer independent teams to struggle not only to remain competitive, but to stay in business, and forced several teams to withdraw. Since 1990, twenty-eight teams have withdrawn from Formula One. This has prompted former Jordan owner Eddie Jordan to say that the days of competitive privateers are over.[36]

Michael Schumacher (pictured here in 2001) won five consecutive titles with Ferrari.

Michael Schumacher and Ferrari won five consecutive Drivers' Championships (2000–2004) and six consecutive Constructors' Championships (1999–2004). Schumacher set many new records, including those for Grand Prix wins (91, since beaten by Lewis Hamilton), wins in a season (thirteen of eighteen), and most Drivers' Championships (seven, tied with Lewis Hamilton as of 2020).[37] Schumacher's championship streak ended on 25 September 2005, when Renault driver Fernando Alonso became Formula One's youngest champion at that time (until Lewis Hamilton in 2008 and followed by Sebastian Vettel in 2010). During 2006, Renault and Alonso won both titles again. Schumacher retired at the end of 2006 after sixteen years in Formula One, but came out of retirement for the 2010 season, racing for the newly formed Mercedes works team, following the rebrand of Brawn GP.

During this period, the championship rules were changed frequently by the FIA with the intention of improving the on-track action and cutting costs.[38] Team orders, legal since the championship started during 1950, were banned during 2002, after several incidents, in which teams openly manipulated race results, generating negative publicity, most famously by Ferrari at the 2002 Austrian Grand Prix. Other changes included the qualifying format, the points scoring system, the technical regulations, and rules specifying how long engines and tyres must last. A "tyre war" between suppliers Michelin and Bridgestone saw lap times fall, although, at the 2005 United States Grand Prix at Indianapolis, seven out of ten teams did not race when their Michelin tyres were deemed unsafe for use, leading to Bridgestone becoming the sole tyre supplier to Formula One for the 2007 season. During 2006, Max Mosley outlined a "green" future for Formula One, in which efficient use of energy would become an important factor.[39]

Since 1983, Formula One had been dominated by specialist race teams like Williams, McLaren, and Benetton, using engines supplied by large car manufacturers like Mercedes-Benz, Honda, Renault, and Ford. Starting in 2000, with Ford's purchase of Stewart Grand Prix to form the Jaguar Racing team, new manufacturer-owned teams entered Formula One for the first time since the departure of Alfa Romeo and Renault at the end of 1985. By 2006, the manufacturer teams—Renault, BMW, Toyota, Honda, and Ferrari—dominated the championship, taking five of the first six places in the Constructors' Championship. The sole exception was McLaren, which at the time was part-owned by Mercedes-Benz. Through the Grand Prix Manufacturers Association (GPMA), the manufacturers negotiated a larger share of Formula One's commercial profit and a greater say in the running of the sport.[40]

In 2008 and 2009, Honda, BMW, and Toyota all withdrew from Formula One racing within the space of a year, blaming the economic recession. This resulted in the end of manufacturer dominance within the sport. The Honda F1 team went through a management buyout to become Brawn GP with Ross Brawn and Nick Fry running and owning the majority of the organisation. Brawn GP went through a painful size reduction, laying off hundreds of employees, but eventually won the year's world championships with Jenson Button and Rubens Barrichello. BMW F1 was bought out by the original founder of the team, Peter Sauber. The Lotus F1 Team[41] were another, formerly manufacturer-owned team that reverted to "privateer" ownership, together with the buy-out of the Renault team by Genii Capital investors. A link with their previous owners still survived, however, with their car continuing to be powered by a Renault Power Unit until 2014.

McLaren also announced that it was to reacquire the shares in its team from Mercedes-Benz (McLaren's partnership with Mercedes was reported to have started to sour with the McLaren Mercedes SLR road car project and tough F1 championships which included McLaren being found guilty of spying on Ferrari). Hence, during the 2010 season, Mercedes-Benz re-entered the sport as a manufacturer after its purchase of Brawn GP, and split with McLaren after 15 seasons with the team. This left Mercedes-Benz, Renault, McLaren, and Ferrari as the only car manufacturers in the sport, although both McLaren and Ferrari began as racing teams rather than manufacturers.

The three teams that debuted in 2010 (Hispania Racing F1 Team/HRT Formula 1 Team, Lotus Racing/Team Lotus/Caterham F1 Team, and Virgin Racing/Marussia Virgin Racing/Marussia F1 Team/Manor Marussia F1 Team/Manor Racing MRT) all disappeared within seven years of their debuts

To compensate for the loss of manufacturer teams, four new teams were accepted entry into the 2010 season ahead of a much anticipated 'cost-cap' (see below). Entrants included a reborn Team Lotus – which was led by a Malaysian consortium including Tony Fernandes, the boss of Air Asia; Hispania Racing – the first Spanish Formula One team; as well as Virgin Racing – Richard Branson's entry into the series following a successful partnership with Brawn the year before. They were also joined by the US F1 Team, which planned to run out of the United States as the only non-European based team in the sport. Financial issues befell the squad before they even made the grid. Despite the entry of these new teams, the proposed cost-cap was repealed and these teams – who did not have the budgets of the midfield and top-order teams – ran around at the back of the field until they inevitably collapsed; HRT in 2012, Caterham (formerly Lotus) in 2014 and Manor (formerly Virgin then Marussia), having survived falling into administration in 2014, went under at the end of 2016.

A major rule shake-up in 2014 saw the 2.4 litre naturally aspirated V8 engines replaced by 1.6 litre turbocharged hybrid power units. This prompted Honda to return to the sport in 2015 as the championship's fourth engine manufacturer. Mercedes emerged as the dominant force after the rule shake-up, with Lewis Hamilton winning the championship closely followed by his main rival and teammate, Nico Rosberg, with the team winning 16 out of the 19 races that season (all other victories coming from Daniel Ricciardo of Red Bull). 2014 also saw a financial crisis which resulted in the backmarker Marussia and Caterham teams being put into administration, alongside the uncertain futures of Force India and Sauber. Marussia returned under the Manor name in 2015, a season in which Ferrari were the only challenger to Mercedes, with Vettel taking victory in the three Grands Prix Mercedes did not win.[42]

In the 2016 season, Haas joined the grid. The season began in dominant fashion for Nico Rosberg, winning the first 4 Grands Prix. His charge was halted by Max Verstappen, who took his maiden win in Spain in his debut race for Red Bull. After that, the reigning champion Lewis Hamilton decreased the point gap between him and Rosberg to only one point, before taking the championship lead heading into the summer break. Following the break, the 1–2 positioning remained constant until an engine failure for Hamilton in Malaysia left Rosberg in a commanding lead that he would not relinquish in the 5 remaining races. Having won the title by a mere 5 points, Rosberg retired from Formula One at season's end, becoming the first driver since Alain Prost in 1993 to retire after winning the Drivers' Championship. The final team remaining from the 2010 new entries process, Manor Racing, withdrew from the sport following the 2016 season, having lost 10th in the Constructors' Championship to Sauber with one race remaining, leaving the grid at 20 cars as Liberty Media took control of the series in the off-season.

Renault returned as a team in 2016 (pictured with Jolyon Palmer)

Recent years have seen an increase in car manufacturer presence in the sport. After Honda's return as an engine manufacturer in 2015, Renault came back as a team in 2016 after buying back the Lotus F1 team. In 2018, Aston Martin and Alfa Romeo became Red Bull and Sauber's title sponsors, respectively. Sauber was rebranded as Alfa Romeo Racing for the 2019 season, while Racing Point part-owner Lawrence Stroll bought a stake in Aston Martin to rebrand the Racing Point team as Aston Martin for 2021.

The battle for control of Formula One was contested between the Fédération Internationale du Sport Automobile (FISA), at the time an autonomous subcommittee of the FIA, and FOCA (the Formula One Constructors' Association).

The beginnings of the dispute are numerous, and many of the underlying reasons may be lost in history. The teams (excepting Ferrari and the other major manufacturers – Renault and Alfa Romeo in particular) were of the opinion that their rights and ability to compete against the larger and better funded teams were being negatively affected by a perceived bias on the part of the controlling organisation (FISA) toward the major manufacturers.

In addition, the battle revolved around the commercial aspects of the sport (the FOCA teams were unhappy with the disbursement of proceeds from the races) and the technical regulations which, in FOCA's opinion, tended to be malleable according to the nature of the transgressor more than the nature of the transgression.

The war culminated in a FOCA boycott of the 1982 San Marino Grand Prix months later. In theory, all FOCA teams were supposed to boycott the Grand Prix as a sign of solidarity and complaint at the handling of the regulations and financial compensation (and extreme opposition to the accession of Balestre to the position of FISA president: both Colin Chapman of Lotus and Frank Williams of Williams stated clearly that they would not continue in Formula One with Balestre as its governor). In practice, several of the FOCA teams backed out of the boycott, citing "sponsor obligations". Notable among these were the Tyrrell and Toleman teams.

During the 2009 season of Formula One, the sport was gripped in a governance crisis. The FIA President Max Mosley proposed numerous cost-cutting measures for the following season, including an optional budget cap for the teams;[43] teams electing to take the budget cap would be granted greater technical freedom, adjustable front and rear wings and an engine not subject to a rev limiter.[43] The Formula One Teams Association (FOTA) believed that allowing some teams to have such technical freedom would have created a 'two-tier' championship, and thus requested urgent talks with the FIA. However, talks broke down and FOTA teams announced, with the exception of Williams and Force India,[44][45] that 'they had no choice' but to form a breakaway championship series.[45]

Bernie Ecclestone, the former Chief executive of the Formula One Group

On 24 June, an agreement was reached between Formula One's governing body and the teams to prevent a breakaway series. It was agreed teams must cut spending to the level of the early 1990s within two years; exact figures were not specified,[46] and Max Mosley agreed he would not stand for re-election to the FIA presidency in October.[47] Following further disagreements, after Max Mosley suggested he would stand for re-election,[48] FOTA made it clear that breakaway plans were still being pursued. On 8 July, FOTA issued a press release stating they had been informed they were not entered for the 2010 season,[49] and an FIA press release said the FOTA representatives had walked out of the meeting.[50] On 1 August, it was announced FIA and FOTA had signed a new Concorde Agreement, bringing an end to the crisis and securing the sport's future until 2012.[51]

In the early years of Formula One, before the world championship was established, there were around twenty races held from late Spring to early Autumn in Europe, although not all of these were considered significant. Most competitive cars came from Italy, particularly Alfa Romeo. After the start of the world championship, these non-championship races continued. In the 1950s and 1960s, there were many Formula One races which did not count for the World Championship; in 1950 a total of twenty-two Formula One races were held, of which only six counted towards the World Championship.[52] In 1952 and 1953, when the world championship was run to Formula Two regulations, non-championship events were the only Formula One races that took place.

Some races, particularly in the UK, including the Race of Champions, Oulton Park International Gold Cup and the International Trophy, were attended by the majority of the world championship contenders. Other smaller events were regularly held in locations not part of the championship, such as the Syracuse and Danish Grands Prix, although these only attracted a small amount of the championship teams and relied on private entries and lower Formula cars to make up the grid.[12] These became less common through the 1970s and 1983 saw the last non-championship Formula One race; the 1983 Race of Champions at Brands Hatch, won by reigning World Champion Keke Rosberg in a Williams-Cosworth in a close fight with American Danny Sullivan.[12]

South Africa's flourishing domestic Formula One championship ran from 1960 through to 1975. The frontrunning cars in the series were recently retired from the world championship although there was also a healthy selection of locally built or modified machines. Frontrunning drivers from the series usually contested their local World Championship Grand Prix, as well as occasional European events, although they had little success at that level.

The DFV helped make the UK domestic Formula One championship possible between 1978 and 1980. As in South Africa a decade before, second hand cars from manufacturers like Lotus and Fittipaldi Automotive were the order of the day, although some, such as the March 781, were built specifically for the series. In 1980, the series saw South African Desiré Wilson become the only woman to win a Formula One race when she triumphed at Brands Hatch in a Wolf WR3.[53]

The new rule for F1 tyres that was introduced in 2016 was that Pirelli could select three different tyres for each race, and each team could choose the tyre from those three depending on the strategies. This concept also continued in 2017 and in 2018, but with thicker and wider Pirelli tyres tested extensively the previous year.

Tyre selections are announced over a month before each event, with rules stating Pirelli must announce compounds nine weeks before a European round and 15 weeks before a long-haul event. Drivers ordinarily select 10 of the 13 sets available for a race weekend, though Pirelli's new tyres means the Italian company will force each driver to stick to the same allocations for the first five races as it learns about the new tyre.

That means for the opening five races, drivers will have seven of the softest compound, four of the middle compound and two of the hardest compound available. Pirelli has backup compounds for introduction later in the season if its initial batch proves to be too conservative in terms of performance or leads to greater levels of degradation than expected.[56]

For much of the sport's history, qualifying sessions differed little from practice sessions; drivers would have one or more sessions in which to set their fastest time, with the grid order determined by each driver's best single lap, with the fastest on pole position. Grids were generally limited to 26 cars – if the race had more entries, qualification would also decide which drivers would start the race. During the early 1990s, the number of entries was so high that the worst-performing teams had to enter a pre-qualifying session, with the fastest cars allowed through to the main qualifying session. The qualifying format began to change in the early 2000s, with the FIA experimenting with limiting the number of laps, determining the aggregate time over two sessions, and allowing each driver only one qualifying lap.

The current qualifying system was adopted in the 2006 season. Known as "knock-out" qualifying, it is split into three periods, known as Q1, Q2, and Q3. In each period, drivers run qualifying laps to attempt to advance to the next period, with the slowest drivers being "knocked out" of qualification (but not necessarily the race) at the end of the period and their grid positions set within the rearmost five based on their best lap times. Drivers are allowed as many laps as they wish within each period. After each period, all times are reset, and only a driver's fastest lap in that period (barring infractions) counts. Any timed lap started before the end of that period may be completed, and will count toward that driver's placement. The number of cars eliminated in each period is dependent on the total number of cars entered into the championship.[57] Currently, with 20 cars, Q1 runs for 18 minutes, and eliminates the slowest five drivers. During this period, any driver whose best lap takes longer than 107% of the fastest time in Q1 will not be allowed to start the race without permission from the stewards. Otherwise, all drivers proceed to the race albeit in the worst starting positions. This rule does not affect drivers in Q2 or Q3. In Q2, the 15 remaining drivers have 15 minutes to set one of the ten fastest times and proceed to the next period. Finally, Q3 lasts 12 minutes and sees the remaining ten drivers decide the first ten grid positions. At the beginning of the 2016 Formula 1 season, the FIA introduced a new qualifying format, whereby drivers were knocked out every 90 seconds after a certain amount of time had passed in each session. The aim was to mix up grid positions for the race, but due to unpopularity the FIA reverted to the above qualifying format for the Chinese GP, after running the format for only two races.[57]

Each car is allocated one set of the softest tyres for use in Q3. The cars that qualify for Q3 must return them after Q3; the cars that do not qualify for Q3 can use them during the race.[58] The first ten drivers, i.e. the drivers through to Q3 must start the race on the tyre which set the fastest time in Q2, unless the weather requires the use of wet-weather tyres, in which case all of the rules about the tyres won't be followed.[59][60] All of the drivers that did not participate in Q3 have free tyre choice for the start of the race. Any penalties that affect grid position are applied at the end of qualifying. Grid penalties can be applied for driving infractions in the previous or current Grand Prix, or for changing a gearbox or engine component. If a car fails scrutineering, the driver will be excluded from qualifying but will be allowed to start the race from the back of the grid at the race steward's discretion.

The race begins with a warm-up lap, after which the cars assemble on the starting grid in the order they qualified. This lap is often referred to as the formation lap, as the cars lap in formation with no overtaking (although a driver who makes a mistake may regain lost ground provided they have fallen to the back of the field). The warm-up lap allows drivers to check the condition of the track and their car, gives the tyres a chance to warm up to increase traction, and also gives the pit crews time to clear themselves and their equipment from the grid.

Jacques Villeneuve qualifying at the 2005 United States Grand Prix in his Sauber C24

Once all the cars have formed on the grid, after the medical car positions itself behind the pack, a light system above the track indicates the start of the race: five red lights are illuminated at intervals of one second; they are all then extinguished simultaneously after an unspecified time (typically less than 3 seconds) to signal the start of the race. The start procedure may be abandoned if a driver stalls on the grid, signalled by raising his arm. If this happens, the procedure restarts: a new formation lap begins with the offending car removed from the grid. The race may also be restarted in the event of a serious accident or dangerous conditions, with the original start voided. The race may be started from behind the Safety Car if officials feel a racing start would be excessively dangerous, such as extremely heavy rainfall. As of the 2019 season, there will always be a standing restart. If due to heavy rainfall a start behind the safety car is necessary, then after the track has dried sufficiently, drivers will form up for a standing start. There is no formation lap when races start behind the Safety Car.[61]

Under normal circumstances, the winner of the race is the first driver to cross the finish line having completed a set number of laps. Race officials may end the race early (putting out a red flag) due to unsafe conditions such as extreme rainfall, and it must finish within two hours, although races are only likely to last this long in the case of extreme weather or if the safety car is deployed during the race. When a situation justifies pausing the race without terminating it, the red flag is deployed; since 2005, a ten-minute warning is given before the race is resumed behind the safety car, which leads the field for a lap before it returns to the pit lane (before then the race resumed in race order from the penultimate lap before the red flag was shown).

In the 1950s, race distances varied from 300 km (190 mi) to 600 km (370 mi). The maximum race length was reduced to 400 km (250 mi) in 1966 and 325 km (202 mi) in 1971. The race length was standardised to the current 305 km (190 mi) in 1989. However, street races like Monaco have shorter distances, to keep under the two-hour limit.

Drivers may overtake one another for position over the course of the race. If a leader comes across a backmarker (slower car) who has completed fewer laps, the back marker is shown a blue flag[62] telling them that they are obliged to allow the leader to overtake them. The slower car is said to be "lapped" and, once the leader finishes the race, is classified as finishing the race "one lap down". A driver can be lapped numerous times, by any car in front of them. A driver who fails to finish a race, through mechanical problems, accident or any other reason is said to have retired from the race and is "Not Classified" in the results. However, if the driver has completed more than 90% of the race distance, s/he will be classified.

Throughout the race, drivers may make pit stops to change tyres and repair damage (from 1994 to 2009 inclusive, they could also refuel). Different teams and drivers employ different pit stop strategies in order to maximise their car's potential. Three dry tyre compounds, with different durability and adhesion characteristics, are available to drivers. Over the course of a race, drivers must use two of the three available compounds. The different compounds have different levels of performance and choosing when to use which compound is a key tactical decision to make. Different tyres have different colours on their sidewalls; this allows spectators to understand the strategies. Under wet conditions, drivers may switch to one of two specialised wet weather tyres with additional grooves (one "intermediate", for mild wet conditions, such as after recent rain, one "full wet", for racing in or immediately after rain). A driver must make at least one stop to use two tyre compounds; up to three stops are typically made, although further stops may be necessary to fix damage or if weather conditions change. If rain tyres are used, drivers are no longer obliged to use both types of dry tyres.

Race director

This role involves generally managing the logistics of each F1 Grand Prix, inspecting cars in parc fermé before a race, enforcing FIA rules and controlling the lights which start each race. As the head of the race officials, the race director also plays a large role in sorting disputes amongst teams and drivers. Penalties, such as drive-through penalties (and stop-and-go penalties), demotions on a pre-race start grid, race disqualifications, and fines can all be handed out should parties break regulations. Up to 2019, the race director in Formula One was Charlie Whiting, who died in March 2019, and was replaced by Michael Masi.[63]

Safety car

In the event of an incident that risks the safety of competitors or trackside race marshals, race officials may choose to deploy the safety car. This in effect suspends the race, with drivers following the safety car around the track at its speed in race order, with overtaking not permitted. The safety car circulates until the danger is cleared; after it comes in, the race restarts with a "rolling start". Pit stops are permitted under the safety car. Mercedes-Benz supplies Mercedes-AMG models to Formula One to use as the safety cars. Since 2000,[64] the main safety car driver has been German ex-racing driver Bernd Mayländer. On the lap in which the safety car returns to the pits, the leading car takes over the role of the safety car until the timing line. After crossing this line, drivers are allowed to start racing for track position once more.

The format of the race has changed little through Formula One's history. The main changes have revolved around what is allowed at pit stops. In the early days of Grand Prix racing, a driver would be allowed to continue a race in his teammate's car should his develop a problem—in the modern era, cars are so carefully fitted to drivers that this has become impossible. In recent years, the emphasis has been on changing refuelling and tyre change regulations. Since the 2010 season, refuelling—which was reintroduced in 1994—has not been allowed, to encourage less tactical racing following safety concerns. The rule requiring both compounds of tyre to be used during the race was introduced in 2007, again to encourage racing on the track. The safety car is another relatively recent innovation that reduced the need to deploy the red flag, allowing races to be completed on time for a growing international live television audience.

*A driver must finish within the top ten to receive a point for setting the fastest lap of the race. In the event that the driver who set the fastest lap finishes outside of the top ten then the point for fastest lap will not be awarded for that race.[66]

Various systems for awarding championship points have been used since 1950. The current system, in place since 2010, awards the top ten cars points in the Drivers' and Constructors' Championships, with the winner receiving 25 points. If both cars of a team finish in the points, they both receive Constructors' Championship points. All points won at each race are added up, and the driver and constructor with the most points at the end of the season are crowned World Champions. Regardless of whether a driver stays with the same team throughout the season, or switches teams, all points earned by him count for the Drivers' Championship.[67]

A driver must be classified to receive points. To be classified, a driver need not finish the race, but complete at least 90% of the winner's race distance. Therefore, it is possible for a driver to receive points even if they retired before the end of the race.[68]

In the event that less than 75% of the race laps are completed by the winner, only half of the points listed in the table are awarded to the drivers and constructors. This has happened on only five occasions in the history of the championship, and it had a notable influence on the final standing of the 1984 season. The last occurrence was at the 2009 Malaysian Grand Prix when the race was called off after 31 laps due to torrential rain.[69]

FIA Formula 2 Championship, the main F1 feeder series since 2017

FIA Formula 3 Championship, the main F1 and F2 feeder series since 2019

Most F1 drivers start in kart racing competitions, and then come up through traditional European single-seater series like Formula Ford and Formula Renault to Formula 3, and finally the GP2 Series. GP2 started in 2005, replacing Formula 3000, which itself had replaced Formula Two as the last major stepping-stone into F1. GP2 was rebranded as the FIA Formula 2 Championship in 2017. Most champions from this level graduate into F1, but 2006 GP2 champion Lewis Hamilton became the first F2, F3000 or GP2 champion to win the Formula One driver's title in 2008.[91] Drivers are not required to have competed at this level before entering Formula One. British F3 has supplied many F1 drivers, with champions, including Nigel Mansell, Ayrton Senna and Mika Häkkinen having moved straight from that series to Formula One. More rarely a driver may be picked from an even lower level, as was the case with 2007 World Champion Kimi Räikkönen, who went straight from Formula Renault to F1, as well as Max Verstappen, who made his debut following a single season in European F3.[92]

American open-wheel car racing has also contributed to the Formula One grid with mixed results. CART champions Mario Andretti and Jacques Villeneuve became F1 World Champions, while Juan Pablo Montoya won seven races in F1. Other CART (also known as ChampCar) champions, like Michael Andretti and Alessandro Zanardi won no races in F1. Other drivers have taken different paths to F1; Damon Hill raced motorbikes, and Michael Schumacher raced in sports cars, albeit after climbing through the junior single-seater ranks. Former F1 driver Paul di Resta raced in DTM until he was signed with Force India in 2011. To race, however, the driver must hold an FIA Super Licence–ensuring that the driver has the requisite skills, and will not be a danger to others. Some drivers have not had the licence when first signed to an F1 team: e.g., Räikkönen received the licence despite having only 23 car races to his credit.

Mark Webber competed in the World Endurance Championship after leaving F1

Many former F1 drivers regularly compete in Formula E (pictured above is Nico Rosberg).

Most long-time F1 drivers leave the series in their mid to late 30s. Some F1 drivers have left to race in the United States—Nigel Mansell and Emerson Fittipaldi duelled for the 1993 CART title, Rubens Barrichello moved to IndyCar in 2012, while Jacques Villeneuve, Juan Pablo Montoya, Nelson Piquet Jr. and Scott Speed moved to NASCAR.

Some drivers have moved from F1 to racing in disciplines with fewer races during the season. The German touring car championship, the DTM, is a popular category involving ex-drivers such as two-time champion Mika Häkkinen and F1 race winners Jean Alesi, David Coulthard and Ralf Schumacher. In recent years, it has become common for former F1 drivers to take up factory seats driving LMP1 cars in the FIA World Endurance Championship, with notable drivers including Mark Webber, Allan McNish, Anthony Davidson, Alexander Wurz, Kazuki Nakajima, Sébastien Buemi and Fernando Alonso. A series for former Formula One drivers, called Grand Prix Masters, ran briefly in 2005 and 2006.[93] Other drivers have moved to Formula E such as Nelson Piquet Jr., Sébastien Buemi, Bruno Senna, Jaime Alguersuari, Nick Heidfeld, Jarno Trulli, Jean-Éric Vergne, Felipe Massa, Stoffel Vandoorne, and more. Some drivers, such as Vitantonio Liuzzi, Narain Karthikeyan and Jos Verstappen went on to race in the A1 Grand Prix series. During its existence from 2008 to 2011, Superleague Formula attracted ex-Formula One drivers like Sébastien Bourdais, Antônio Pizzonia and Giorgio Pantano.

Other former F1 drivers, like Jackie Stewart, Gerhard Berger, Alain Prost and Niki Lauda returned to F1 as team owners or managers while their former competitors have become colour commentators for TV coverage such as James Hunt (BBC), Martin Brundle (BBC, ITV and Sky), David Hobbs (NBC), Alan Jones (BBC, Nine Network and Ten Network), David Coulthard (BBC and Channel 4), Luciano Burti for Globo (Brazil), and Jean Alesi for Italian national network RAI. Others, such as Damon Hill and Jackie Stewart, take active roles in running motorsport in their own countries. Carlos Reutemann became a politician and served as governor of his native state in Argentina.

• European Grand Prix at Valencia Street Circuit (2008; discontinued after 2012)
• United States Grand Prix at Circuit of the Americas (2012–present)
• Austrian Grand Prix at Red Bull Ring (2014–present)
• Mexican Grand Prix at Autódromo Hermanos Rodríguez (2015–present; will be renamed Mexico City Grand Prix starting from 2021[97])
• European Grand Prix at Baku City Circuit (2016; renamed the Azerbaijan Grand Prix in 2017)
• French Grand Prix at Circuit Paul Ricard (2018–present)
• Dutch Grand Prix at Circuit Zandvoort (2021–present)

Bold denotes the Grands Prix scheduled as part of the 2021 season.

Since 2008, the Formula One Group has been targeting new "destination cities" to expand its global reach, with the aim to produce races from countries that have not previously been involved in the sport. This initiative started with the 2008 Singapore Grand Prix.

Race	Years	Circuit	Notes
Singapore Grand Prix	2008–2019, 2021–present	Marina Bay Street Circuit	First race to take place outside of daylight hours. 2020 race cancelled due to COVID-19 pandemic
Abu Dhabi Grand Prix	2009–present	Yas Marina Circuit
Korean Grand Prix	2010–2013	Korea International Circuit	Discontinued due to poor attendance figures
Indian Grand Prix	2011–2013	Buddh International Circuit	Discontinued due to local government restrictions
Russian Grand Prix	2014–present	Sochi Autodrom
Azerbaijan Grand Prix	2017–2019, 2021–present	Baku Street Circuit	Previously called the European Grand Prix in 2016. 2020 race cancelled due to COVID-19 pandemic
Saudi Arabian Grand Prix	2021–present	Jeddah Street Circuit

Bold denotes the Grands Prix scheduled as part of the 2021 season. Below is a list of announced plans for new Grands Prix.

Race	Years	Circuit	Target Calendar Entry	Current Status
Saudi Arabian Grand Prix	2021–present	Jeddah Street Circuit	2021	Confirmed
Vietnamese Grand Prix	TBC	Hanoi Street Circuit	Originally scheduled for 2020 season, initial delay due to COVID-19	Unknown; Postponed indefinitely
Grand Prix of Miami	TBC	Hard Rock Stadium Circuit	2022	Unknown; awaiting F1 Group confirmation
Panama City Grand Prix	TBC	TBC	2023	Unknown; awaiting F1 Group confirmation

Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the 2020 Formula One World Championship calendar was forced to make major changes as the pandemic resulted in the original 22-race calendar being completely changed and many races cancelled. In May 2020, it was announced that some circuits would run back-to-back races for the first time. These races would be run under a different Grand Prix title. Further races were announced during the year as the pandemic situation developed, with the aim of having around 15–18 races to make up the 2020 season.[98] The season finally comprised 17 races, ending on 13 December with the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix.

The Eifel, Emilia Romagna, Styrian, Tuscan and Sakhir Grands Prix were named after the regions in which the tracks are located, with the 70th Anniversary Grand Prix named in honour of the 70th Anniversary of the first Formula One World Championship race. Alongside the new Grand Prix titles, the Portuguese Grand Prix and Turkish Grand Prix returned to the calendar to make up the remaining races for the 2020 season.

Race	Years	Circuit	Notes
70th Anniversary Grand Prix[lower-alpha 1]	2020	Silverstone Circuit	New Grand Prix title for a one-off due to COVID-19 pandemic
Eifel Grand Prix[lower-alpha 2]	2020	Nurburgring	New Grand Prix title for a one-off due to COVID-19 pandemic
Emilia Romagna Grand Prix[lower-alpha 3]	2020	Autodromo Internazionale Enzo e Dino Ferrari	New Grand Prix title for a one-off due to COVID-19 pandemic
Portuguese Grand Prix	2020	Algarve International Circuit	Returning Grand Prix for a one-off due to COVID-19 pandemic
Sakhir Grand Prix[lower-alpha 4]	2020	Bahrain International Circuit	New Grand Prix title for a one-off due to COVID-19 pandemic
Styrian Grand Prix[lower-alpha 5]	2020	Red Bull Ring	New Grand Prix title for a one-off due to COVID-19 pandemic
Tuscan Grand Prix[lower-alpha 6]	2020	Mugello Circuit	New Grand Prix title for a one-off due to COVID-19 pandemic
Turkish Grand Prix	2020	Istanbul Park	Returning Grand Prix for a one-off due to COVID-19 pandemic

Formula 1 has launched a plan to become carbon neutral by 2030. It will move to ultra-efficient logistics and travel and 100% renewably powered offices, facilities, and factories and offset emissions that cannot be cut. As the first step, it would begin carbon-reduction projects immediately. By 2025, all events should become "sustainable", including eliminating single-use plastics and ensuring all waste is reused, recycled or composted.[145]

In January 2020, FIA and Formula One signed the United Nations "Sports for Climate Action" framework and affirmed that they would become carbon neutral by 2030. After the signing was announced, FIA President Jean Todt said: "As an international Federation comprising 244 members in 140 countries and the leader in motor sport and mobility development, we are fully committed to global environmental protection. The signing of this UN Sports for Climate Action Framework reinforces the momentum that has been growing in our Federation for many years. Since the introduction of the hybrid power unit in F1 to the creation of the Environment and Sustainability Commission, the entire FIA community has been investing time, energy and financial resources to the benefit of environmental innovations. We aim to inspire greater awareness and best practice in sustainability motor sport standards."[146]

In December 2020, the FIA claimed that it had developed a fuel with 100% sustainability, to be used in Formula One from either 2025 or 2026, when new engine regulations come into force.[147]