The F1 glossary

Photo by Peter J Fox/Getty Images

From the 107% rule to yellow flag and everything in between, here are the terms you need before the F1 season begins

Formula 1 is back!

Well, kind of.

The 2023 season gets its start this week as all ten teams descend upon Bahrain for pre-season testing. Over the next few days F1 fans around the world will get their first looks at how each team — and driver — stacks up for the season ahead, as well as a glimpse of what each team has been working on over the off-season.

So we thought it was a great time to unveil one of our off-season projects; The SB Nation F1 glossary. With a sport filled with terminology and technical aspects, we tried our best to break it all down for F1 fans old, and new.

107% rule

As we will see in a moment, F1 uses a three-stage qualifying process. If, during the first stage of qualifying, an eliminated driver fails to post a lap time within 107% of the fastest lap time, that driver cannot participate in the Grand Prix absent the approval of race officials.

The 107% rule was in application until 2003, when F1 changed the qualifying format to two single-lap sessions. When F1 altered the qualifying format, the 107% rule returned in 2011.

During the 2016 Hungarian Grand Prix, 11 drivers failed to meet the 107% threshold when qualifying occurred during wet conditions. That led F1 to alter the 107% rule, applying it only when race officials determine that the track is dry.

The last time a driver failed the 107% rule was Lance Stroll, back in 2021 at the French Grand Prix. Race officials allowed Stroll’s Aston Martin to participate that weekend. The last time race officials did not let a driver participate in the Grand Prix under the 107% rule came in 2012, when Pedro de la Rosa and Narain Karthikeyan, both of HRT, failed to meet the 107% threshold and were not permitted to race in the Australian Grand Prix.

Aerodynamics

In the world of F1, aerodynamics is the ballgame. Generally speaking, this refers to how air flows over the vehicle. But as we will see throughout this glossary, there are more detailed aspects of aerodynamics, such as downforce, drag, turbulence, resistance, and more.

Apex

The apex is the middle point of the inside line on the track. The apex is the spot on the race track that drivers aim for, trying to set themselves up for a smooth exit out of the corner.

Backmarker

A backmarker is a car that is running at the end of the field, often in danger of being lapped by cars at the front of the pack. In situations where cars at the front of the lead lap are approaching cars at the rear of the field, blue flags will be displayed, informing the slower car — the backmarker — to make room for the faster cars to pass.

Sometimes, that does not always go according to plan.

During the 1988 Italian Grand Prix, McLaren’s Ayrton Senna was two laps from victory. He tried to get past Williams’ Jean-Louis Schlesser, who was at the end of the pack. But Schlesser mistimed his braking, causing a collision between the two cars. It would be the only race during the entire 1988 season that McLaren failed to win:

Two years later, Senna was in a similar situation at his home event, the 1990 Brazilian Grand Prix. Senna was trying to win that race for the first time but collided with another backmarker, this time Tyrell’s Satoru Nakajima. The two collided on the 40th lap, and Senna finished third despite qualifying in pole position:

Ballast

Ballast plays a role in teams complying with the minimum weight requirements for the cars each weekend. Teams use ballast to add weight, ensuring cars race at the minimum weights required under F1 regulations. Traditionally, racing teams used iron or lead as ballast to add weight to the cars, now they use densamet, a tungsten alloy.

There has been discussion in recent years of using ballast as a penalty for teams, as an alternative to grid penalties.

Bargeboard

In an effort to find the best aerodynamics around the race cars, teams used bargeboards. These were pieces of bodywork on the front of the vehicles, behind the front wheels and in front of the sidepods, to control the airflow around the car:

With the new car designs unveiled in 2022, bargeboards have become a thing of the past.

Blistering

Blistering refers to wear and damage to tyres. This occurs when super high temperatures are experienced, causing the bonds between the tyre’s inner layers to soften. This excess heat can cause rubber to break away in chunks from the body of the tyre itself, creating a pockmarked effect.

Blue Flag

The blue flag is one of the warning flags that can be employed during a race. As just described, a backmarker is a car that is running at the end of the field, often in danger of being lapped by cars at the front of the pack. In these situations, the blue flag is displayed, instructing the slower-running car — the backmarker — to allow space for the faster cars to pass.

Also as just described, sometimes it does not go well.

Bottoming

Bottoming, or bottoming out, refers to when a race car’s chassis hits the track surface. F1 cars run with low ride heights to keep the car’s center of gravity as low to the track as possible, which helps to create downforce on the car. As the vehicle’s suspension compresses, either at top speeds or when working through corners, the ride height becomes smaller, making it likely the vehicle hits the track surface or bottoms out.

Camber

Camber refers to the angle of the wheels on the race car. If you look at the race car from the front, the vehicle may have a positive, a negative, or a neutral camber. When a car has a positive camber, the bottoms of the wheels are closer together than the tops. When a car has a negative camber, the bottoms of the wheels are wider than the tops. In a neutral camber situation, the tops and bottoms are the same distance from the center line of the car.

In this image from F1.com illustrating the changes to the front wing, you can see the negative camber with the front wheels:

CFD

CFD is short for computational fluid dynamics. This is the process where teams can simulate the flow of air over and around a car, through modeling. Historically, teams have used wind tunnels to test the flow of air around race cars, but with the growth of CFD, teams can now use a “virtual wind tunnel” to test their cars.

For more on CFD, you can read about the process in detail here.

Chassis

F1 race cars contain many critical components. One is the power unit, and another is the chassis. The chassis is the skeleton, or internal frame, of the race car. A good chassis must be structurally sound, handle well at top speed and through corners, support the body panels and other components of the vehicle, and protect the driver at all times.

Chicanes

Chicanes are portions on a race track that consist of multiple tight corners in alternate directions. These are typically placed on a track at the end of a long straight, where the cars push top speeds, as a way of slowing them down throughout the rest of the course. There are several famous chicanes on the F1 circuit, including the twisting turns around the swimming pool complex in Monaco, Parabolica at Monza, and Maggots, Becketts, and Chapel at Silverstone. But perhaps the most well-known — and toughest — tests drivers at Spa. Known as Eau Rouge, this left-right-left sequence, while working uphill and at top speeds, is the stuff of lore.

In these two videos, you can see Eau Rouge as it is today, as well as the evolution of Eau Rouge over the years:

Clean Air

Drivers encounter clean air when they are on an empty track, or running out in front during a race. Without traffic in front of them, they are slicing undisturbed air, which is the optimum state for a race car. As air passes over the vehicle it creates turbulence, or “dirty air” behind it. Cars passing through dirty air lose downforce — which slows them down during turns — and makes engine cooling less effective.

Coanda Effect

The Coanda Effect, named after Romanian aerodynamics pioneer Henri Coanda, described how fluid flows over a curved surface. When a moving fluid — such as water or air — comes into contact with a curved surface it will follow the curvature of the surface, rather than flowing over the curved surface in a straight line.

What does this have to do with F1? Through understanding airflow and aerodynamics, including the Coanda Effect, teams can adjust parts of the vehicle to control airflow and generate downforce.

For more on the Coanda Effect and its role in F1, you can watch this explainer video from F1.com.

Cockpit

The cockpit is where the driver sits inside the race car. Due to the design of the race cars, drivers are almost in a laying-down position when seated in the cockpit.

Compound

These include three slick compounds, as well as two compounds for wet surfaces. The three slick compounds are generally soft, medium, and hard, racing from C1 (hardest) to C5 (softest). This season Pirelli is introducing a sixth compound, C0, which is based on the current C1 compound. There will be a new C1 for 2023. Then there are the two compounds for wet surfaces: The intermediates, and the full wet tyres.

Intermediate tyres displace approximately 30 litres of water at 300kph – or 186mph. The full wet tyres displace approximately 85 litres of water at 300kph – or 186mph.

This image from Pirelli illustrates the various compounds used in the 2022 F1 season:

As you can see, the tyre compounds are color-coded. White tyres are the hards, yellow are the mediums, red are the softs, green are the intermediates, and blue are the full wets.

Concertina effect

Compound refers to the types of tyres used in F1. Pirelli, the tyre This is an aspect of physics sometimes termed the accordion effect, the elastic band effect, or the concertina effect. Generally speaking, you see this when fluctuations in the motion of a traveling body cause disruptions in the flow of surrounding elements behind it. In the F1 world, you see this coming into, and out of, corners. If two cars are approaching the corner, the car in front slows down first, allowing the second car to close the gap because it is not yet braking. But as the two cars come out of the corner, the effect is reversed. The car in front will accelerate first, expanding the gap between the two.

For a more “real-world” example, think about the last time you were in stop-and-go traffic. When the car in front of you slowed down, you gained ground on them due to applying your brakes later than they did. When they accelerated, they pulled away from you in a reverse concertina effect.

Control electronics

Control electronics are two of the components to the power unit in an F1 car. There are two, the Control Electronics-K, and the Control Electronics-H. The CE-K works in conjunction with the MGU-K, while the CE-H works in conjunction with the MGU-H. (Both the MGU-H and the MGU-K will be discussed later).

The CE units take the energy created by either the MGU-K or the MGU-H and transmit it to the battery, or they can do the reverse, taking electrical energy from the battery and transmitting it to either the MGU-K or the MGU-H. Along the way, the control electronics can convert the energy to the format used by either the battery, or the two MGU units.

This requires a lot of processing power for the control electronics. Over the course of a single race, over 40 trillion calculations are made by the control electronics.

In this video, Mercedes managing director Hywel Thomas explains how the control electronics functions in greater detail:

Debrief

Life in F1 is just like life in any corporate environment.

Lots of meetings.

In the F1 world, these are called debriefs. After every event, be it practice, qualifying, or a race, the team gets together to talk about what happened, what went wrong, and what can be improved in a debriefing session:

You might be wondering why each participant is on a headset, even when sitting across from each other. F1 teams are massive, and not everyone will be present. Other team members that may be thousands of miles away — either at team headquarters, at the site of the next Grand Prix, or somewhere else in the world — but they will still participate.

Degradation

Tyre management is a huge part of F1. Degradation, or deg for short, refers to the thermal performance of the tyres, and how fast the tyre is losing performance as a result of the conditions.

Teams monitor the temperature of the tyres throughout each lap, as tyres that are either too hot or too cold, will not produce enough grip for the car. Degradation is different than tyre wear, which occurs naturally the longer a tyre is used.

Delta

Delta refers to the difference between a race car’s current lap time, and a predetermined lap time. When a car is “delta positive,” that means that the car is running slower than the predetermined lap time.

Under yellow flag conditions, for example, cars will be instructed to remain “delta positive,” meaning they are to remain slower than the predetermined lap time.

During qualifying, teams have a target time they are aiming for, and drivers may be either “delta positive,” or “delta negative,” with respect to that target time.

Downforce

Downforce is one of the most important aerodynamic aspects of F1. This refers to the vertical component of aerodynamic forces impacting the car. As cars travel through the air, downforce pushes the car down into the track. At high speeds, the downforce created by the airflow around the car will exceed the weight of the car itself.

Drag

Drag is another aerodynamic aspect of the F1 world, and it refers to the resistance experienced as a solid object travels through the air. The rear wings of F1 cars are designed to generate downforce, which as we just noted pushes the cars down on the track. But these features generate drag, which can reduce the top speed of the cars.

As we will see in a moment, F1 cars have drag reduction systems, which can be used in certain instances, to reduce drag.

Drive-through penalty

F1 stewards have several different penalties at their disposal to use during a race weekend as a result of various violations, whether in the pits or on the track. One is a drive-through penalty, where a driver must take his car through the pits at a reduced speed, without stopping. It must be served within two laps of being imposed, and it cannot be done under a safety car. If such a penalty is handed down in the closing laps of a race, 20 seconds are added to the finishing time instead of the driver having to roll down pit lane.

This is one of the more severe penalties a steward can impose.

DRS

Drag Reduction System, or DRS for short, is a system aimed at allowing cars to reach maximum speeds and increasing the chances for overtakes during races. Introduced in 2011, DRS allows drivers to open a flap in their rear win to reduce drag levels on the vehicle, increasing their maximum speeds. During a race, drivers can engage their DRS system by pressing a button and opening up a flap on the rear wing of their car. Each circuit has designated DRS zones where the system can be engaged — typically on straight-line portions of the track — and DRS can only be engaged when a driver is within one second of the car in front of them.

In this image from The Sun, you can see the difference in the flaps. On the left, Max Verstappen has DRS enabled and the rear flap open. On the right, Charles Leclerc has DRS disabled, with the rear flap closed:

Race control can restrict the use of DRS in certain situations, such as weather, and DRS is disabled for the first two laps of their race, or during the first two laps of a race following safety car or red flag sessions. F1 is going to examine that two-lap restriction at certain tracks during the 2023 season.

ECU

The Engine Control Unit, or ECU, is a critical part of the race car’s electronic system. It controls the engine, the gearbox, the throttle, the clutch, the energy recovery system (or ERS), and the drag reduction system (DRS). It also transmits a massive amount of data back to the team on pit lane, so strategic decisions can be made each weekend.

F1 cars have over 300 different sensors, providing real-time data to the teams so they can handle every scenario they face on the track.

Energy Store

The energy store is another way of describing the battery system on an F1 race car. These are lithium ion batteries which can return energy to the drivetrain energy during each lap around the track.

The energy store is one of the six components to an F1 power unit.

ERS

The Energy Recovery System, or ERS for short, harnesses waste energy — heat energy from the car’s turbocharger and kinetic energy from the braking system — and returns it to the car. An F1 race car has two ERS units, the MGU-K (Motor Generator Unit – Kinetic) and the MGU-H (Motor Generator Unit – Heat). The ERS on an F1 race car can provide up to 120kw of power for approximately 30 seconds per lap.

Both the MGU-H and the MGU-K will be described in greater detail in a moment.

Flat Spot

When a driver spins out of control, or is forced to break heavily, a flat spot might be produced on a tyre, or on multiple tyres. A flat spot is a heavily-worn patch on a tyre, and can impact handling and/or even cause vibration in the vehicle. Drivers may be forced to pit for replacement tyres as a result.

Flow-vis

Photo by Bradley Collyer/PA Images via Getty Images

During pre-season testing, F1 teams try and figure out exactly how air is flowing over the race cars. As we have covered, aerodynamics is a huge part of F1.

One method teams use is by putting “flow-vis” paint on the front of the car during testing. Flow-vis paint is a fluorescent powder mixed with oil, that moves over the surface of the race car as the vehicle works its way through the track. Teams can track how air is moving over the car based on where the paint flows on the vehicle.

Above is an example of flow-vis in action, on Nicholas Latifi’s Williams race car during testing prior to the 2022 F1 season.

Formation Lap

The formation lap, sometimes termed the parade lap or the warm-up lap, is the lap before the start of a Grand Prix where the cars drive around the circuit before getting into place for the start of the race.

Front Wing

Photo by David Buono/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images

F1 race cars have a pair of wings, a rear wing, and a front wing. The front wing is arguably the most important aerodynamic element of the race car, as it is the first element that comes into contact with the air as the car works around the track. The front wing impacts how air flows over the rest of the car.

Because of this, the front wing is one of the most regulated parts of the race car in F1. Teams face restrictions on the length, height, and even how much the front wing can flex. As a result, front wings are very similar from team to team.

G force

Generally speaking, a G Force or G-force — abbreviated as g — refers to a unit of physical gravity that can be multiplied during rapid changes in direction, rapid accelerations or decelerations, or both. This is felt as pressure, or weight, on the body when experienced.

During acceleration, F1 drivers can experience up to 2 gs. When cornering, drivers can experience anywhere from 4 to even 6 gs.

Graining

Graining is another type of wear or damage that can occur to tyres. When graining takes place, a bit of rubber is torn from the tyre, but immediately adheres to the tyre due to the hot surface temperatures. This creates an uneven surface on the tyre which can impact handling and braking. Graining typically occurs when the tyre slides across the track surface and is more common with softer tyre compounds. In most cases, graining resolves over time with common tyre wear, but in the most severe instances it might require changing to a different compound during a pit stop.

The above photograph, from Racecar Engineering, is an example of tyre graining.

Grip

Grip is the amount of traction the car has at any point on the track. The more grip, or traction, a driver has at their disposal, the easier it is for the driver to control the car on the circuit and through corners.

Halo

The halo ring is a recent safety feature added to open-wheel race cars, including on the F1 circuit. Introduced in 2018, the halo device is a titanium ring that protects the driver in the cockpit. Since the halo was introduced, it has been credited with saving drivers from serious injury on multiple occasions, including Lewis Hamilton during the 2021 Italian Grand Prix, and Zhou Guanyu in last season’s British Grand Prix.

This video from the Mercedes F1 team breaks down the halo safety ring in greater detail:

HANS device

The head and neck support device, or HANS device for short, has been in use in F1 since the 2003 season. This is a brace that rests on the driver’s shoulders, and features straps that keep the driver’s head secured as the car moves around the track.

The HANS device works to keep the driver’s head stabilized during cornering, when accelerating and decelerating, and in the event of a crash. The HANS device helps prevent serious injuries such as whiplash, brain injuries, and skull fractures.

Heat Cycle

A heat cycle is a process where a tyre’s temperatures are changed, which alters the properties of the compound and can improve grip, handling, and durability. Tyres are taken from a cooling starting point to a much hotter temperature through use.

Tyre compounds are designed to be most effective around 212 degrees Fahrenheit, giving them and the race car improved grip around the circuit. However, as we discussed earlier, tyres that are too hot can experience blistering.

ICE

F1 cars utilize an internal combustion engine, or ICE. The ICE is one of the six components of the race car’s power unit, and it connects the gearbox to the chassis. Currently, F1 ICEs are six-cylinder engines, constructed in a V-configuration at 90 degrees, with a 1.6-litre displacement. F1 ICE units have a limit of 15,000rpm.

Installation Lap

The installation lap, or install lap, is an initial test lap done when a team or a car arrives at a circuit, during either a practice session or a test session. This is not even a full lap in most instances, as the car will leave the pits and come straight back at a medium speed. The purpose is to make sure critical components — such as the power unit, the throttle, and the brakes — are working properly.

Jump start

You might hear the phrase “lights out” or “when the lights go out” before the start of an F1 race. Races begin when five red lights are lit up, one at a time, until all five are illuminated. After a pause, the lights go out, signaling the start of the race.

A jump start occurs when a driver moves off their grid position prior to lights out. Sensors are in place to determine premature movement, and a jump start incurs a penalty.

Lock-up

A lock-up occurs when a driver brakes hard, “locking” one or more tyres while the others continue to rotate. This usually occurs when a driver pushes too hard into a corner and/or brakes too late in a corner. Smoke from the inside front tyre is usually the telltale sign that a driver has locked-up, and they could even drive through the corner when this occurs.

Tyre flat spots can result from a tyre lock-up.

In this video from F1, Sebastian Vettel experiences a lock-up at the 2022 Azerbaijan Grand Prix:

Marshal

Marshals are safety officials present at a Grand Prix, and they serve a variety of roles. They help keep spectators safe, moving them away from the track when necessary. They can work as fire marshals, responding to accidents to extinguish fires if/when they result while also helping drivers exit their race cars. Marshals also

Meatball Flag

One of the other warning flags used during a race is a black flag with an orange circle on it, used when a car has visible damage that is in danger of coming loose on the track. Since this could create a safety hazard, the black and orange flag is a signal to the driver of that vehicle that a pit stop is necessary to fix the damage, for safety reasons.

It is sometimes referred to as the “meatball” flag, most often by Haas driver Kevin Magnussen, who along with his team complained about how often his car was shown the meatball flag last season.

MGU-H

As noted above, the Motor Generator Unit – Heat (MGU-H) is part of the race car’s energy recovery system. The MGU-H harnesses waste energy from an F1 car’s exhaust. This is placed between the turbine and the compressor inside the turbocharger, and is made up of magnets that spin around when filled with exhaust gas. These magnets generate electrical energy, which is transmitted to the car’s energy store.

In this video, Mercedes managing director Hywel Thomas explains how the MGU-H works in greater detail:

MGU-K

Like the MGU-H, the Motor Generator Unit – Kinetic (MGU-K) is also part of the car’s energy recovery system. It can recover, or supply, electrical energy to the car. Attached to the car’s crankshaft, the MGU-K adds power in addition to the car’s power unit when the driver accelerates, adding about 161 horsepower to the car’s total output in brief spurts.

However, when the driver brakes, the MGU-K generates energy through a system of magnets used to harvest the kinetic energy in the crankshaft. This energy is sent back to the vehicle’s energy store.

In this video, Mercedes managing director Hywel Thomas explains how the MGU-K works in greater detail:

Option tyre

At each Grand Prix the tyre supplier will offer two different compounds for the team to use. The second compound, which is usually the softer of the two, is referred to as the option tyre.

Oversteer

Oversteering refers to the scenario where the rear of the race car dows not want to turn around a corner, and as a result, overtakes the front end of the car as the driver works through the turn. To control the vehicle in this situation, the driver needs to turn the front wheels into the skid.

Paddock

Jerome Miron-USA TODAY Sports

The paddock is the working area at an F1 circuit, located behind pit lane. Here, engineering staff can work, and new tyres can be stored, and teams can conduct debriefing sessions. There is also a hospitality area for staff, sponsors, and invited guests.

Paddocks are often very impressive structures, given the fact that they are often broken down after each Grand Prix and transported to an upcoming circuit. This is most often the case with the European races.

For more on paddocks, and what goes into them, this guide from Red Bull Racing is worth your time.

Parc fermé

Parc fermé is an enclosed area off pit lane where cars are taken after qualifying, and after races. They are not to be touched by team members unless under strict supervision by race stewards.

Teams are also placed under parc fermé conditions once qualifying begins. From that moment until the start of the race, only certain work can be done on the car. Exchanging parts on a part-for-part basis is permitted, but modifications to the vehicle, or altering the suspension, are not allowed under parc ferme conditions.

Pits

The pits, or pit lane, is the area of the track alongside the start/finish line where teams have garages for each vehicle. Drivers can “box,” or come into the pits, to change tyres and/or refuel during races, or make changes to the vehicle during practice sessions.

Pole position

Pole position is where you want to be when a race begins, and it refers to the driver who recorded the fastest lap in the three-stage qualifying process. At some circuits like Monaco, starting up front is perhaps the only path to a podium finish.

Porpoising

Porpoising is an aerodynamic phenomenon that teams, in particular Mercedes, endured last season with new aerodynamic regulations. With the introduction of the new regulations, air was sucked under the race cars, pulling them closer to the track. However, when the cars were pulled too close to the track, the flow of air underneath the car would stop, eliminating any downforce on the vehicle.

As a result, the car would spring upward. This created an up-and-down effect termed porpoising, much like a dolphin working over the water.

In this video from F1.com taken at preseason testing a year ago, you can see the porpoising effect on Lewis Hamilton’s Mercedes. Watch the tires and the rear wing bounce at the end of a long straight.

Power unit

The power unit, or powertrain, consists of the six components used to power an F1 racing car. These six components are: The internal combustion engine or ICE, the MGU-H, the MGU-K, the turbocharger, the control electronics, and the energy store. Working together, these six components control the electrical systems, harness and disburse electrical energy, and power the car on the track.

Prime tyre

At each Grand Prix the tyre supplier will offer two different compounds for the team to use. The first compound, which is usually the harder of the two, is referred to as the prime tyre. In theory this is the compound most suitable for that particular track.

Qualifying

Qualifying is the process wherein the starting order for a Grand Prix is set. F1 uses a three-stage qualifying process. In the first stage, the 20 drivers are reduced to 15, with the five slowest drivers eliminated. In the second stage, the field is narrowed again by five, getting the group down to a final ten. The third and final stage sets the starting order for the top ten.

Rear wing

Photo by Dan Istitene/Getty Images

Red flag

A red flag is one of the safety flags used by stewards during an F1 session. This indicates that the stewards have determined that the conditions have made it unsafe to continue and that all drivers are to reduce speed and return to pit lane. This can be due to debris on the track, or to weather conditions.

If a red flag is shown during a race, drivers are to return to pit lane and line up at the pit lane exit, where they will be placed in race order. When the race resumes, it will be done behind a safety car.

Retirement

Retirement occurs during a race when a car has to drop out of the field, due to an accident or a mechanical failure.

Rumblestrip

Photo by TOSHIFUMI KITAMURA/AFP via Getty Images

The rumblestrip is a bumpy patch of curbing usually found on the exit of a corner. The purpose of the rumblestrip is to warn the driver of the edge of the track.

Safety car

A safety car may be deployed under yellow flag conditions when race stewards find it necessary to slow all the cars on the track down while the hazardous conditions are rectified. If, for example, there is an incident which creates a lot of debris on the track, a safety car may be deployed to allow the marshalls to clear the debris.

When there is a safety car on the track, the cars must slow to a minimum delta — as described above — and cannot overtake. This will cool down the tyre temperatures, so you will often see drivers swerve to warm the tyres as much as possible.

Pit stops are permitted during the deployment of the safety car. Lapped cars will be permitted to overtake the leader.

When conditions are cleared, drivers will be informed that the safety car is leaving the track. The leader then controls the field, and resumes racing speed. Once the leader crosses the start/finish line, racing resumes.

There is also a virtual safety car, which we will outline in a moment.

Sectors

Laps are split into three sections at each circuit, for timing purposes, and the three sections are called sectors. Each sector is roughly a third of the lap, officially termed Sector 1, Sector 2, and Sector 3. Depending on the circuit, some cars might be faster in one sector than the other.

Sidepod

Sidepods are the part of the race car along the side, and their primary purpose is to house the radiators in each F1 car. Given the speed F1 cars achieve, and the RPMs involved in an F1 power unit, a lot of cooling power is needed.

However, sidepods have taken on an increased aerodynamic purpose with the new F1 regulations. As discussed earlier, bargeboards are out, and now the sidepods are used to help guide the flow of air over, and around, the car.

In this video from F1.com, F1 technical expert Craig Scarborough dives into sidepods in further detail.

Steward

Stewards are the high-ranking officials at each Grand Prix who can make decisions regarding conditions, penalties, and more.

Stop-and-go penalty

A stop-and-go penalty is another of the penalties that stewards can impose on a race weekend for a violation of the rules. When given a stop-and-go penalty the driver has to bring their vehicle into the pits, and stop for ten seconds. The team cannot refuel, or make any tyre changes, during this penalty.

Telemetry

Telemetry refers to the massive amount of data points generated by an F1 race car each second. F1 race cars have over 300 sensors, transmitting over one million points of data to their teams each second. F1 teams monitor speed, suspension movements, directional forces, throttle, braking, tyre temperatures, cornering, acceleration, and so much more.

In this video from the Sauber F1 Team, you can see in real-time the telemetry provided to the team, along with the side-by-side view of their car on the track:

In this video Cameron Brewser, the IT Systems Engineer for Haas, talks about how data is synched from the track, to the pits, and even back to head quarters:

Timed penalty

Timed penalties, either five- or ten-second penalties, can ben handed down by stewards for infractions during a race. When such a penalty is levied, they can be served during a driver’s next pit stop. When the car comes into the pits, it must remain stationary for the penalty time before any work on the car can begin.

If the penalty is levied after the completion of planned pit stops, or during the final three laps of a race, the allotted time will be added onto their final race time instead.

Turbo

The turbocharger, or turbo for short, is a device on an F1 race car to force additional air into the internal combustion engine (ICE). Generally speaking, internal combustion engines require a mixture of fuel, and air, for combustion. A spark combusts the mixture, creating a small explosion, forcing the piston inside the cylinder down. This is the power stroke, which works to propel the car. The piston then moves back up in the exhaust stroke, expelling the used gasses into the atmosphere.

In this video that I am pretty sure I saw during high school, how an internal combustion engine works is broken down.

That’s how it works on the cars we drive. But it is different with an F1 turbocharger.

What the turbocharger does is put that expelled used gasses to work, using them to generate more power. Instead of releasing the exhaust outside of the car, exhaust gasses pass instead through a turbine. This turbine is directly connected to a compressor in the air intake. By compressing this air into the ICE, each cylinder is able to generate more force in the power stroke.

More force in the power stroke equals more power.

In this video, Mercedes Mercedes managing director Hywel Thomas explains how the turbocharger works in greater detail:

Turbulence

Turbulence, or “dirty air,” refers to the wake left behind when an F1 car slices through the air. As noted above, when an F1 track is alone on the track, or riding at the front of the pack, they pass through clean air. The cars behind them, however, must pass through the turbulence created in the air by the car in front.

Turbulent, or dirty, air impacts the aerodynamic flow of the cars behind a lead car on the track.

This can be beneficial on long straights, as the car in front is punching the air and doing more work, effectively pulling the car behind it along the track. But on turns and through corners, turbulent air reduces downforce — slowing the car down through turns — and reduces the effectiveness of the car’s cooling system.

In this short video Rob Smedley, F1’s technical director, discusses turbulence, and how teams work to minimize dirty air on the track:

Understeer

As you might expect, this is the opposite of an oversteer. When a car understeers, the front end does not want to turn through a corner, and slides out wide as the driver tries to get the car to change directions.

In this clip from the 2018 Hungarian Grand Prix, Valtteri Bottas’ Mercedes understeers through a corner, sliding into the Red Bull of Daniel Ricciardo on the outside:

Virtual safety car

There may be situations where there is a hazardous condition on the track, such as a stalled vehicle, but because the situation will likely clear in a short amount of time, the use of a safety car is not necessary. This is where you might see a virtual safety car, or VSC. When a virtual safety car is used, drivers are instructed to slow by 30% using an automated timing system. Drivers can see an automated timing delta on their steering systems, which is continuously updated.

Pit stops are permitted under a virtual safety car, provided pit lane is not closed. However, lapped cars are not allowed to overtake the leader. This is another difference between a safety car situation, and the use of a virtual safety car.

The VSC may end at any point on the track, and there is no required duration for a VSC.

Yellow flag

A yellow flag is another safety flag used by the stewards during an F1 event. Generally speaking, a yellow flag means that there is a dangerous situation ahead and that overtaking is not permitted. A single yellow flag means that drivers need to slow down, whereas a double yellow flag means that the situation is dangerous enough that stopping might be necessary.