This background includes writing extensively about Formula 1 for various outlets before to joining SlashGear, as well as covering three United States Grand Prix races from trackside at Austin’s Circuit of the Americas.
I’ve been a journalist and photographer covering auto racing for the majority of the past ten years.
After years of being an avid follower of Formula One (F1) and the drivers who risk their lives to thrill racing enthusiasts worldwide, the opportunity to stroll around the pits with a camera in hand as cars sped past at over 200 miles per hour was a dream come true.
Every year, Formula 1’s appeal grows, partly because of the exposure it receives from the behind-the-scenes Netflix documentary “Formula 1: Drive to Survive.” I’ve included a summary of everything readers who are new to Formula 1 racing should know below, whether they are wondering why all the hype is happening or have just begun watching races.
Formula 1 drivers compete in a three-phase qualifying process to establish the starting order for the race before it starts on Sunday. Twenty drivers will be fighting for ten teams in the 2024 Formula One field.
Every Saturday, all 20 drivers compete in the 18-minute Q1 session at the track. The five slowest drivers after the first qualifying round receive starting positions 16–20 and are disqualified from continuing.
Starting in places 11–15 of the race are the five drivers that finished last in the 15-minute Q2 session. Q3, which lasts for 12 minutes and determines the starting order for the top 10 positions, is not open to them.
When the third-fastest driver in the qualifying round gets into “pole position,” they have an advantage going into the first turn of the first lap of the competition.
In Formula 1, a driver’s best lap time can occasionally be determined by subtracting a thousandth of a second from another’s. In addition, during practice or qualifying for reckless driving or other rules infractions, drivers may be subject to grid place penalties.
While IndyCar races have only been held in the United States and Canada for over ten years and NASCAR hasn’t held a Cup Series race outside of the country since the 1950s, Formula 1’s 24 races this year are expected to take place in 21 different nations across five continents. More than 1,100 races have been held in 34 nations by the Formula One series since its inception in 1950 at the Silverstone circuit in England. Italy had hosted the most races going into this season (105), followed by Germany (79). The 79th Formula 1 Grand Prix was staged in the United Kingdom earlier in July, and the United States will match that number this November when it hosts the Las Vegas Grand Prix.
After the United States Grand Prix at Circuit of the Americas, which is located just outside of Austin, in October, and the Miami Grand Prix in May, that race will be the third held in the United States this year. Logan Sargeant, a native of Florida, is the lone driver in the field this year, despite the fact that the United States is hosting more races than any other nation (Italy comes in second with two).