What is Formula 1?
Formula 1 is the highest class of single-seater motor racing. Eleven teams each run two cars, and over a season of more than 20 races (called Grands Prix, 23 of them in 2026) the drivers score points towards the Drivers' Championship and their teams towards the Constructors' Championship.
The "formula" in the name is the set of rules every car has to follow. Teams design and build their own cars within those rules, which is a big part of what makes F1 different from series where everyone drives the same machine. A driver can be brilliant and still finish nowhere if their car is slow, and a fast car can carry an average driver to good results. Most of the time, the people who win titles have both.
The two championships
Every race hands out points to the top 10 finishers. Those points count twice: once for the driver, and once for their team.
- The Drivers' Championship goes to the driver with the most points at the end of the season. This is the title people mean when they say someone is "world champion".
- The Constructors' Championship goes to the team with the most points from both of its cars added together. It matters a great deal to the teams because prize money is paid out by finishing position in this table.
You can read how points are handed out on the points system page.
Teams and drivers
A team in F1 is properly called a constructor, because it has to design and build its own chassis. Some teams also build their own engines (called power units), and others buy them from a manufacturer. In 2026 there are 11 teams, after Cadillac joined the grid as a new entry.
Each team races two cars, so a full grid is 22 drivers. Teams also keep reserve drivers on standby in case someone is ill or injured. More on that in teams and drivers.
What a race weekend looks like
Most weekends follow the same pattern:
- Practice on Friday (and Saturday morning), where teams test their set-up and drivers learn the track.
- Qualifying on Saturday, a knockout session that sets the starting order.
- The race on Sunday, usually about 305 km long and lasting around an hour and a half.
Six weekends a season also include a shorter sprint race on Saturday, which has its own points. The race weekend page goes through the schedule in detail.
Who makes the rules
Two organisations share control of the sport. The FIA (Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile) writes and enforces the rules, and appoints the stewards who judge incidents. Formula 1, the commercial rights holder owned by Liberty Media, runs the business side: the calendar, TV deals, sponsorship and paying the teams. See who runs F1 for how they fit together.
A short history
The first World Championship race was held at Silverstone in Britain on 13 May 1950. Since then the cars have gone from front-engined machines with skinny tyres to carbon-fibre hybrids that produce enough downforce to corner at over 5g.
The rules change regularly, sometimes in small ways from year to year, and sometimes all at once. 2026 is one of those big years: the cars are smaller and lighter, the engines rely much more on electric power, the wings move between two settings on every lap, and the fuel is fully sustainable. You can read about all of it in how an F1 car works.