Everything to Know About F1 for the 2024 Season

The automobiles flash by at 220 mph. GOAT of the game Lewis Hamilton will reportedly make an eye-watering $100 million in 2025. Celebrities jet all over the world to look at. And if you happen to’re within the US, races appear to intersect completely with Sunday brunch.

Formula 1 racing has been gaining a foothold in American sports activities media over the previous couple of years, and curiosity is barely getting greater: ESPN reported that eight out of 23 races it broadcast in 2023 set US tv F1 viewership information, and viewership has doubled for the reason that 2018 season. 

Even if you happen to do not watch the races, information about F1 groups and drivers is probably going making its approach into social media feeds and onto your TV screens. If you are aware of NASCAR or IndyCar racing, F1 racing will probably be recognizable, however when you dig into the worldwide motorsport collection and you will find its truly fairly completely different from each of these collection too. 

If you’ve got encountered F1 within the wild — possibly Drive to Survive popped up in your Netflix suggestions — and also you’re seeking to perceive what’s up with the race-weekend craze, I’ve acquired you coated. I’ve been a fan for years and obsessively comply with the game. To assist get you began earlier than the season kicks off, I’ve rounded up all the things you want to learn about F1 so you will be prepared for the primary race of the season on March 2. 

For extra, this is methods to watch F1 and the greatest sports activities streaming service. 

What is F1? 

Whether you realize it as “Formula One,” “Formula 1,” or simply “F1,” the game, in keeping with F1’s web site, is “the very best class of worldwide racing for single-seater method racing automobiles.” That definition works, I suppose, however for me, it is an occasion the place winged projectiles steered by drivers, aptly nicknamed “pilots,” race at dizzying speeds on the roads and tracks of Bahrain, Italy, Monaco and the US for 2 or so hours every week, utilizing a mixture of sensible engineering and high-stakes technique to find out who wins and loses.

With 10 F1 groups this season, and two drivers racing for every staff, there’s lots of competitors. (Formula racing additionally has the second tier F2, with 11 groups and 22 drivers, and the third tier F3, with 10 groups and 30 drivers.)

If you’ve got solely ever seen NASCAR, the distinction between method racing automobiles and inventory automobiles are fairly completely different. Most noticeably, inventory automobiles look just like a automobile you’ll see on the highway, whereas method automobiles are open-wheeled, and function a bit extra like an extended and speedy go-kart. 

A method racing automobile at a look seems to be extra like an IndyCar, however there are variations: Formula automobiles, for instance, are designed for various race situations and are higher at gaining pace in corners and turns. IndyCar automobiles, however, can obtain increased straight-line pace. 

The greatest distinction between F1 and each NASCAR and IndyCar is the method, or algorithm, F1 automobile designers comply with for automobile weight, mirror dimension, tire composition and extra. Working with these tips — which in 2023 ran on for 177 pages (PDF) — automobile engineers and designers search for methods to maximise efficiency to offer their automobiles an edge over rivals.

NASCAR and IndyCar, however, are specification-based collection and the entire automobiles are basically the identical. 

Any given season may have 19 to 25 races, and a races is normally known as a “Grand Prix.” Races happen all all over the world, with the calendar spanning anyplace from late February to early December, making the season a virtually year-long affair. 

The 2024 F1 season will embody 24 Grands Prix and can kick off with preseason testing from Feb. 21 to 23. The first race weekend, the Bahrain Grand Prix, will run from Feb. 29 by way of March 2. The Bahrain Grand Prix kicks off the official season, and the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix will shut out the season in December.

Which groups will take part in F1 within the 2024? 

Here are the ten groups and their drivers competing within the 2024 season (listed in 2023’s championship order): 

1. Red Bull Racing, with competing drivers Max Verstappen (three-time world champion and present title-holder) and Sergio Perez.

2. Mercedes, with competing drivers Lewis Hamilton (seven-time world champion) and George Russell.

3. Ferrari, with competing drivers Charles LeClerc and Carlos Sainz.

4. McLaren, with competing drivers Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri.

5. Aston Martin, with competing drivers Fernando Alonso (two-time world champion) and Lance Stroll.

6. Alpine, with competing drivers Esteban Ocon and Pierre Gasly.

7. Williams, with competing drivers Alex Albon and Logan Sargent.

8. Visa Cash App Racing Bulls, or RB (previously AlphaTauri), with competing drivers Daniel Ricciardo and Yuki Tsunoda.

9. Kick Sauber (previously Alfa Romeo), with competing drivers Valterri Bottas and Zhou Guanyu.

10. Haas, with competing drivers Kevin Magnussen and Nico Hulkenberg. 

Wondering which groups to control?

F1 followers and creators of the Two Girls 1 Formula podcast Kate Byrne and Nicole Sievers have recommendation for brand new followers. Byrne supplied up Ferrari as her staff to look at this season, due to a run of fine hires. Sievers chosen McLaren as her choose, calling them “sneaky quick” and noting they completed strongly final 12 months. Sievers additionally likes Williams, one in all F1’s most storied groups, as an underdog choose for the season. 

What is an F1 race weekend like?

A Grand Prix race usually stretches over three or 4 days, normally starting on a Thursday however typically on a Friday with media day, the place drivers give interviews and arrive on the monitor, and ending on a Sunday — and some occasions on a Saturday — with the race. 

In between are observe periods and a qualifying session the place drivers compete for his or her grid placements for weekend race. 

The race, or Grand Prix, is from 40 to 80 laps lengthy and may last as long as two hours. Most Grands Prix are on purpose-built race tracks, however some, like Monaco and Las Vegas, happen on metropolis streets.

This format shifts a bit throughout a dash race weekend. A dash race is a shorter model of a Grand Prix, lasting anyplace from 15 to 35 laps. A dash race weekend may have one observe session, a particular qualifying session known as a Sprint Shootout on Friday, the dash race itself and the Grand Prix qualifying session on Saturday, and the Grand Prix on Sunday. 

A few modifications and additions to the schedule this 12 months are value noting. The first two races of the season, the Bahrain Grand Prix and Saudi Arabian Grand Prix, will probably be held on Saturday, out of respect for Ramadan. And the Chinese Grand Prix is again on the calendar, for the primary time since 2019. 

When are this 12 months’s Grands Prix to look at? 

This season has 24 Grands Prix over 10 months.

Lily Herman, writer of the Engine Failure publication and co-host of the Choosing Sides podcast, cites the Japanese Grand Prix, which has moved up considerably within the calendar, as a race to look at this 12 months. Herman additionally thinks the Vegas Grand Prix will probably be one to control, provided that its inaugural race weekend in 2023 “was a combined bag” and described as a “headache” by locals.

What else to learn about F1?

If you wish to get a working begin on the F1 season earlier than the racing kicks off, Sievers, Byrne and Herman all advocate testing Drive to Survive, Netflix’s F1 docu-series that provides followers an inside take a look at every season of F1. A brand new season will probably be dropping on Feb. 23. 

I agree: When I used to be a brand new fan, Drive to Survive gave me a jumpstart on the faces, names and themes within the sport. It additionally supplied some essential context over the previous few years of the game, which was additionally useful once I began watching races. 

One factor I seen once I began watching F1 was that commentators would throw out all types of phrases that I used to be unfamiliar with. It could be tremendous overwhelming, so to assist construct up your F1 vocabulary, I’ve rounded up a few of the most typical phrases you will hear throughout a race weekend and outlined them: 

• DRS: The drag discount system is a mechanism on Formula 1 automobiles that reduces drag by opening a flap on the again wing of the automobile. DRS can solely be utilized at sure factors of the race, known as DRS zones, and when two automobiles are inside a sure time distance (1 second). 
• Understeer: This occurs when the entrance of the automobile is more durable to show than anticipated, so the automobile is not going to flip right into a nook as sharply as the motive force intends to show, for instance. 
• Oversteer: This occurs when the again of the automobile turns an excessive amount of and slips a bit when a automobile is popping. This implies that the entrance of the automobile will flip too sharply right into a nook. 
• Undercut: An undercut happens when a driver makes a pit cease — or “pits” — to placed on model new tires earlier than an opponent does. If achieved accurately, these brisker tires will permit the motive force who pitted to realize somewhat little bit of time over a driver who didn’t pit and is working on older tires. 
• Overcut: An overcut is the direct reverse of an undercut. A driver chooses to stay on the monitor on older tires whereas different drivers pit. If executed correctly, a driver can get a couple of extra laps out of their tires and choose up a couple of seconds on opponents on a much less congested monitor.
• Degradation: Formula 1 tires are normally clean (those utilized in moist situations have a little bit of tread for improved grip), and are underneath a substantial amount of pressure throughout races. As a results of temperature and put on, the tires can degrade, and after a sure level truly make the automobiles slower and more durable to regulate. Many drivers will complain about this (maybe a bit unnecessarily). F1 tires are designed to put on and degrade, making tire administration a essential piece of race technique. Tire-makers are continually evaluating and tweaking tire buildings and compounds for optimum racing underneath completely different situations.

Correction, Feb. 22: A earlier model of this story used Kate Byrne’s maiden identify and incorrectly spelled Nicole Sievers’ final identify.