With the 2023 car launches in full swing and pre-season testing only 16 days away, here’s a beginners guide to Formula 1 for all of those who are new to the sport.

First, we’ll start off with the basics, there are 10 teams each with two drivers and a team principal. Here is the complete list of all the 2023 teams with their new driver line ups and team principals.

Team	Drivers	Team Principal
Redbull	Max Verstappen “1” Sergio ‘Checo’ Perez “11”	Christian Horner
Ferrari	Charles Leclerc “16” Carlos Sainz “55”	Fred Vasseur
Mercedes	Lewis Hamilton “44” George Russell “63”	Toto Wolff
Alpine	Esteban Ocon “31” Pierre Gasly “10”	Otmar Szafnauer
McLaren	Lando Norris “4” Oscar Piastri “81”	Andrea Stella
Alfa Romeo	Valterri Bottas “77” Zhou Guanyu “24”	Alessandro Bravi Jan Monchaux
Aston Martin	Fernando Alonso “14” Lance Stroll “18”	Mike Krack
Haas	Kevin Magnussen “20” Nico Hulkenberg “27”	Guenther Steiner
Alpha Tauri	Yuki Tsunoda “22” Nyck de Vries “21”	Franz Tost
Williams	Alex Albon “23” Logan Sargeant “2”	James Vowles

Now that the teams have been established, next we’ll take a look at where these teams will be racing throughout the upcoming season. The pre-season testing in Bahrain will start on 23^rd February – 25^th February, this will be our first chance to see this seasons new cars on track but the first Grand Prix will kick of on 5^th March.

Race	Location	Date
Bahrain Grand Prix	Bahrain International Circuit	5th March
Saudi Arabian Grand Prix	Jeddah Corniche Street Circuit	19th March
Australian Grand Prix	Melbourne Grand Prix Circuit	2nd April
Azerbaijan Grand Prix	Baku City Circuit	30th April
Miami Grand Prix	Miami International Autodrome	7th May
Emilia Romagna Grand Prix	Autodromo Enzo e Dino Ferrari	21st May
Monaco Grand Prix	Circuit de Monaco	28th May
Gran Premio de Espana	Circuit de Catalunya	4th June
Grand Prix du Canada	Circuit Gilles Villeneuve	18th June
Grosser Preis von Osterreich	Red Bull Ring	2nd July
British Grand Prix	Silverstone Circuit	9th July
Magyar Nagydij	Hungaroring	23rd July
Belgian Grand Prix	Circuit de Spa-Francorchamps	30th July
Dutch Grand Prix	Circuit Zandvoort	27th August
Gran Premio d’Italia	Autodromo Nazionale Monza	3rd September
Singapore Grand Prix	Singapore Street Circuit	17th September
Japanese Grand Prix	Suzuka International Racing Course	24th September
Qatar Grand Prix	Losail International Circuit	8th October
United States Grand Prix	Circuit of the Americas	22nd October
Gran Premio de Mexico	Autodromo Hermanos Rodriguez	29th October
Grande Premio do Brasil	Autodromo Jose Carlos Pace	5th November
Las Vegas Grand Prix	Las Vegas Street Circuit	18th November
Abu Dhabi Grand Prix	Yas Marina Circuit	26th November

Each race weekend starts on Thursday with the media day, but the first on track action starts on the Friday. The Friday consists of two practice sessions, FP1 and FP2, in which the cars get their first opportunity to get some laps in on track and tailor the set up of the car to each specific circuit. Saturday marks the start of the first competitive running, the morning session gives the teams one last chance to get some practice in as once FP3 ends, the teams then move into qualifying.

Qualifying sees all of the 20 drivers take to the track to try and set the fastest lap time possible. This knockout session is split into 3 sectors, the first is known as Q1 (Qualifying 1), this is 18 minutes long and all 20 drivers participate in setting their fastest time, this may be referred to as their flying lap. From here the slowest 5 drivers are knocked out and the times that they set will form the grid positions 16-20 for the race on Sunday. The remaining 15 drivers advance to Q2, this process repeats and they have 15 minutes to set their times, those eliminated will fill the grid positions 11-15 on Sunday. The final session, Q3, is 12 minutes long and the final 10 compete for pole position with the fastest lap time taking this spot. The final 10 drivers will fill positions 1-10 on the grid for Sunday.

Sunday is the main race, the amount of laps in each race will vary depending on how long the circuit is but the general rule for every race is that it can be longer than 2 hours and must be at least 305km. The only exception to this is if there is a suspension in the race due to weather, an accident etc. the race time can go up to 3 hours to recover the time that has been lost whilst the race was suspended.

A relatively new format in Formula 1 are the sprint races, these were introduced in 2021 and will continue in 2023, taking place at 6 Grand Prix Circuits. The sprint races this year will take place at:

Azerbaijan Grand Prix	Baku City Circuit	30th April
Grosser Preis von Osterreich	Red Bull Ring	2nd July
Belgian Grand Prix	Circuit de Spa-Francorchamps	30th July
Qatar Grand Prix	Losail International Circuit	8th October
United States Grand Prix	Circuit of the Americas	22nd October
Grande Premio do Brasil	Autodromo Jose Carlos Pace	5th November

On these 6 weekends the format above changes slightly in the following way, the practice sessions on Friday operate as normal, however there is no final practice session on Saturday and instead qualifying fills the morning session, replacing FP3. The sprint race takes the afternoon slot. The sprint race is 1/3 of a full race distance and points are awarded to the top 8. It should be noted that this race only serves to provide the top 8 with extra points as the qualifying session on Saturday morning still sets the grid for the full race distance on Sunday.

Speaking of points, lets move on to how many points are awarded for sprint races and a full Grand Prix Distance. The sprint race point system is set up in the following way:

Position	Points
1st (P1)	8
2nd (P2)	7
3rd (P3)	6
4th (P4)	5
5th (P5)	4
6th (P6)	3
7th (P7)	2
8th (P8)	1

As would be expected a full race distance awards a lot more points as seen below:

Position	Points
1st (P1)	25
2nd (P2)	18
3rd (P3)	15
4th (P4)	12
5th (P5)	10
6th (P6)	8
7th (P7)	6
8th (P8)	4
9th (P9)	2
10th (P10)	1

These is an additional point that can be picked up in a race for the fastest lap of the race, however this will only count towards a driver’s points total if they finish in the top 10.

Following a disastrous race in Spa 2021, new sporting regulations were brought in last year and they apply to how many points can be awarded if the race distance is not completed.

In order for any points to be awarded a minimum of two laps must be completed without a safety car or virtual safety car. If more than two laps have been completed but less than 25% of the full race distance, then points will be awarded in the following way:

Position	Points
1st (P1)	6
2nd (P2)	4
3rd (P3)	3
4th (P4)	2
5th (P5)	1

If 25% of the race has been competed but it’s still less than 50% of the full race distance, points will be awarded in the following way:

Position	Points
1st (P1)	13
2nd (P2)	10
3rd (P3)	8
4th (P4)	6
5th (P5)	5
6th (P6)	4
7th (P7)	3
8th (P8)	2
9th (P9)	1

If 50% of the race distance is completed but it’s still less than 75% of the total distance, points will be awarded in the following way:

Position	Points
1st (P1)	19
2nd (P2)	14
3rd (P3)	12
4th (P4)	9
5th (P5)	8
6th (P6)	6
7th (P7)	3
8th (P8)	3
9th (P9)	2
10th (P10)	1

So, what are these points for? There are 2 championships in F1, the Constructors World Championship and the Drivers’ World Championship.

The Constructors’ World Championship is the team championship and this dictates how much prize money is handed out to the 10 teams at the end of the season. This title is decided by the combined number of points from both drivers in the team, the team with the most points wins the title and the most money, the amount of money gradually decreases the further down the grid you go.

The Drivers’ World Championship, is exactly as it says, for the drivers. This title is considered to be more prestigious than the Constructors title. In this championship each driver is out for himself and the driver with the most points at the end of the season is crowned as the new World Champion irrespective of how their team has done in the Constructors Championship.

F1 is the pinnacle of single seater motorsport and is governed by the FIA, the purpose of F1 is to create the fastest car possible through constant development and ingenuity. Throughout the season the cars are constantly being developed and so the team that has the fastest car at the first race may not necessarily be the best by the end of the season. Last year saw the introduction of new regulations that have introduced us to a new era of cars, the main changes that were brought in are:

• A ground-effect floor: The 2022 car has two long underfloor tunnels which create a ‘ground effect’ – meaning there is more suction under the car to pull it to the tarmac, while also ensuring more of the downforce is generated from under the car.
• A simplified front wing and a sharp rear wing: These have been designed to stop sending airflow outwards, narrowing it instead.
• 18-inch tyres with wheel winglets:  Another throwback addition, the bigger tyres are aesthetically pleasing while they should also improve the handling of the cars. The winglets have been added to help direct air away from the rear wing.

There are many F1 terms that you may be unfamiliar with, the terms and definitions can be found here to provide a better understanding of F1.

There are a few more topics that cover off the basics of Formula 1 such as the types of tyres that are used; safety procedures and penalties that can be applied. The final section of the guide will cover these subjects starting with the tyres.

Pirelli supply all the tyres that the teams use, there are two types of tyres: dry tyres and wet tyres. There are 5 different types of dry tyres:

• C1
• C2
• C3
• C4
• C5

The C1 compound is the hardest tyre and C5 is the softest, for each weekend 3 different compounds will be chosen and the teams will be assigned an allotted number of tyres to use for the weekend. Within the race on Sunday at least two different compounds must be used by all teams, the different compounds can also be identified through their colour, the hardest tyre is marked in white, the medium tyre is marked in yellow and the softest tyre is marked in red.

In the event that is rains during a race the wet and intermediate tyres are used, these can also be identified through their colour as the intermediate tyres are marked in green and are for light rain where as the full wet tyres are marked in blue are and used for heavy rain.

Next up are the safety procedures, the two main procedures here are the use of the virtual safety car (VSC) and the safety car.

The virtual safety car can be used in any session where there is a problem on track that needs to be fixed, the VSC neutralises the race – meaning that no one can overtake or be overtaken – and slows the cars down whilst the problem on the circuit is fixed.

If the problem on the track is more serious, such as a severe crash that could put anyone in danger, a safety car can be used. The safety car comes out onto the track and bunches the entire field up, the car leads all of the F1 cars around the track at a reduced pace until the accident has been fixed/recovered and it is safe to resume racing. The safety car must follow a specific procedure (listed below) once the accident has been resolved before the race can start:

• The cars between the Safety Car and the leader firstly need to be let through
• Lapped cars will be allowed to overtake the safety car
• The safety car will return to the pits at the end of the following lap

These rules were clarified heading into the 2022 season, as the final race of 2021 led to an infamous debate over these rules which you can look into at your own risk. 

The main difference between the VSC and the Safety car is that the VSC is not an actual car it is a virtual car that controls the drivers speed whilst the safety car is a real physical car that is put out on track.

During and F1 race there are many things that can go wrong and there are multiple flags that are used to show this, the table below details all of the flags in F1 and what they mean:

Flag	Meaning
Yellow flag	Shown in case of danger due to a collision, mechanical or electrical failure. When shown all drivers must slow down.
Double waved yellow flags	This is more serious than a single yellow flag and is used where there is a serious incident ahead, drivers must slow down and be prepared to stop.
Red flag	This is shown when a session must be stopped, this can be due to a serious incident, severe weather conditions or poor track conditions.
Blue flag	This is shown to a car that is about to be lapped by a faster car, the slower car must move out of the way and allow the faster car to pass.
Green flag	This is shown to indicate that racing can resume and the track is now clear of any danger.
Black flag	This is shown to indicate that a driver has been disqualified from the race and they must return to the pits.
White flag	This used to show that there is a slow moving vehicle on track.
Chequered flag	This waved at the end of a session/ race to indicate that the session/race has ended.
Black flag with orange circle (meatball flag)	This indicates that a driver has a mechanical issue and must return to the pits.
Half black and half white flag	This is shown to a driver to indicate unsportsmanlike like behaviour. Too many of these could lead to a black flag.
Yellow and red striped flag	This is shown to indicate a deteriorating track.

The final detail that you need to be aware of are the penalties that can be applied in Formula 1, penalties can be given out for an array of reasons such as performing dangerous of illegal moves. Here are the penalties that can be given out:

• A reprimand/warning
• Grid place penalty
• Disqualification
• Suspension from additional races
• Time Penalty:

– 5 Seconds

– 10 Seconds

– Drive through penalty

– 10 second stop and go penalty

All F1 drivers have a super licence which allows them to drive F1 cars, if a driver picks up 12 penalty points on their licence over the course of 12 months they will automatically receive a race ban.

Now that you know all of the Formula 1 basics the only question left is where can you watch?  Here is a complete list of where to watch F1 depending on your location:

Location	Where to watch
UK	Sky Sports Now TV Channel 4 F1 TV
US	ESPN ABC
Canada	RDS TSN
Australia	Fox Sports Network 10
France	Canal+ C8
Italy	Sky Sports F1 TV8
Germany	Sky Sports F1 RTL
Spain	DAZN Telecinco
Netherlands	Viaplay NOS
Brazil	Band TV Bandeirantes
Japan	DAZN Fuji TV Next

Now that you know the basics of F1, enjoy the upcoming 2023 season and check out more F1 articles here.