Reading the timing screen

The timing screen, whether it's the tower on the left of the TV picture or the full live timing in the F1 app, shows the order of the cars and the time between them. Once you know what each column means, it tells you a lot more than the TV pictures do: who is catching whom, who is on old tyres and who is about to pit.

#The order and the gaps

In a race, cars are listed in their current running order. Next to each is a time, which is shown in one of two ways:

• Gap (or gap to leader) is how far behind the race leader that car is.
• Interval is how far behind the car directly in front.

The interval is usually the more useful number during a race. If it's shrinking lap after lap, the car behind is catching. In 2026, being within one second of the car ahead at the detection point lets a driver use overtake mode, so intervals around one second are worth watching.

When a car has been lapped, you'll see +1 LAP (or more) instead of a time.

In qualifying and practice the order is by fastest lap, and the gap is to the fastest time of the session.

#Sectors

Each lap is split into three sectors, with timing lines at the end of each. Sector times let you see where on the lap a driver is gaining or losing time. Every sector is also split into many smaller mini-sectors, which the live timing shows as a row of small bars.

#What the colours mean

So a driver on a good qualifying lap might go purple, purple, green: the fastest anyone has gone in the first two sectors, and a personal best in the third. In the mini-sectors, a blue or grey bar usually means the car is in the pit lane or the segment was not completed.

#Other things you'll see

• Tyre: a coloured letter (S, M, H, I, W) for the compound, and often a number showing how many laps old it is. See tyre compounds.
• Pit stops: how many stops each driver has made. PIT means the car is in the pit lane, and OUT means it has just rejoined.
• Speed trap: the top speed at a fixed point on the circuit, usually the end of the longest straight.
• Last lap and best lap: lap times for each driver.
• Retired / OUT / STOP: the car has stopped and taken no further part.

#In qualifying

During qualifying, the screen usually marks the elimination zone: the positions that will be knocked out if the session ended now. Drivers in it need to improve. Because times are deleted at the end of Q1 and Q2, the order resets at the start of each part.

When the chequered flag falls, any driver who has already started a lap can finish it. That's why the order often changes in the last minute or two.

#Track position and the pit window

The timing screen also helps you follow strategy. A pit stop costs a fixed amount of time, often around 20 seconds depending on the track. If the gap behind a driver is bigger than that, they can stop without losing a place. Commentators will often talk about a driver "having a pit stop in hand" or "coming out in traffic". The gaps on the screen are how they work that out.

#Delayed and adjusted results

The timing screen shows what has happened on track. Penalties may still change the final order. A time penalty is added after the race, so a driver who crosses the line third with a 5-second penalty may be classified lower. Laps can also be deleted in qualifying for exceeding track limits, sometimes several minutes after they were set.