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The average F1 Grand Prix weekend starts on Thursday, with planned events up until the final race on Sunday. Each of the four days make up for the crucial moments leading up to the final podium champagne showers. The format of a regular race weekend underwent some changes in 2021, with the introduction of the sprint qualifying format that took place at three out of the 22 races. The 2022 season will now have a record 23 races throughout the year and is set to give fans loads to look out for week after week.
In this article, we look at the day-by-day happenings for a Grand Prix weekend.
Thursday
Also known as the 'F1 media day', this is when the team and their respective drivers arrive at the paddock. The media center makes for the most crucial location of the day. All 20 drivers participate in the official press conferences to answer questions from the media as well as some from their fans. On a typical Thursday, garages and F1 paddocks are also set up in preparation for the race weekend.
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Drivers reveal their predictions for the upcoming race and reflect on how the season has been thus far. Team briefings and track walks also traditionally take place on this day. The Monaco Grand Prix is the only exception to this as media day takes place on Wednesdays at the iconic street circuit. The two scheduled free practice sessions take place on Thursday in Monaco, while Fridays remain dormant.
Friday
Friday is typically the day that drivers and engineers get the chance to test out their cars on the track. More often than not, tracks are undergoing renovations and upgrades so it's not always very easy to predict how the car is likely to perform on a certain track, especially given the change in regulations. This is the day that teams, drivers, the paddock, and the fans get an idea of which cars seem most competitive for the rest of the weekend. Three 60-minute free practice sessions traditionally take place, with two on Friday and the final FP3 on Saturday. Teams use this day to learn the track, analyze track time, collect data to help strategize for qualifying and the final race, and adapt their computer simulations.
Saturday
The final F1 practice session takes place on Saturday and allows teams to prepare for their set-up changes to finalize their strategy for qualifying. Qualifying is an hour-long session that decides the starting positions of all cars for the final race. The session is essentially split into three sections — Q1, Q2, and Q3. Each section allows for one or two flying laps where drivers take the opportunity to set the fastest possible time to start ahead in the grid.
In the first section i.e. Q1, the five slowest drivers are eliminated and their starting position is decided based on where they stood regarding their fastest lap time, relative to the other four drivers, making for positions 16 to 20 on the grid. The same process continues for the remaining 15 drivers, the five slowest of whom will take up positions 11 to 15 on the grid. The remaining 10 drivers give their final push in Q3 to determine the top 10 positions on the grid for Sunday.
Sunday
Teams make their final preparations on Sunday. The pit lane opens up 40 minutes prior to the formation lap. The actual race takes place on Sunday for an average of 90 minutes to two hours. The top three drivers who cross the checkered flag share the podium post the race and celebrate with champagne in front of their teams. After the podium ceremony, there's a post-race press conference for the three drivers to participate in before packing up for the day and heading into the next F1 Grand Prix weekend.
How does sprint qualifying session change F1 race weekend format?
The new F1 sprint qualifying format was introduced in 2021 and took place at Silverstone, Monza, and Interlagos. This brings about major changes in the Friday and Saturday events for such Grand Prix. The 100-kilometer dash sets the grid for the final race, whereas the regular qualifying session is the decider for where the cars will begin in the sprint session.
Instead of three free practice sessions, only two such sessions take place, with one on Friday and the second on Saturday prior to sprint qualifying. Essentially, Friday consists of FP1 and the regular qualifying session. The next day, another 60-minute practice session gives the teams and drivers the chance to adapt to the track before heading into sprint qualifying, which sets the grid for the main F1 race on Sunday.
