Reference
Glossary
The words commentators use without explaining them. Each one is also underlined where it appears in a chapter. Tap it there for the short version.
Corners and the track
- Racing lineThe fastest path through a corner: start on the outside, cut to the inside, finish on the outside. It makes the bend as gentle as possible.
- Braking pointThe spot where a driver hits the brakes for a corner. Braking a few metres later than a rival is how many overtakes happen.
- Turn-inThe moment the driver starts steering into a corner.
- ApexThe point where the car comes closest to the inside of a corner, usually riding the kerb. It’s normally where the car is slowest.
- Track-outThe point on a corner’s exit where the car runs back out to the edge of the track.
- HairpinA corner that turns almost all the way back on itself, like a U-turn. The slowest corners in F1.
- ChicaneA quick left-right (or right-left) squiggle, often added to slow cars down before a dangerous section.
- EssesA series of linked bends that flick one way then the other, like the letter S.
- SweeperA long corner taken at high speed with little or no braking, where downforce holds the car on the road.
- KinkA slight bend so gentle that drivers take it flat out.
- Double apexA long corner driven as two, touching the inside kerb twice.
- BankingA corner whose road tilts inwards, like a velodrome, so the car can go round faster.
- KerbThe raised red-and-white strip along the edge of the track in corners. Drivers ride over it to straighten their line.
- Gravel trapA bed of loose gravel beyond the edge of a corner that slows down a car that runs off the track.
The car and physics
- DownforceAir pushing the car down onto the track, made by the wings and floor. More downforce means more grip, and it grows quickly with speed.
- DragAir resistance pushing back against the car and slowing it down. The same wings that make downforce also make drag.
- g-forceHow hard the driver is pushed, measured against gravity. 5 g sideways means a force five times their own weight.
- TractionThe grip the rear tyres have to put the engine’s power down without spinning.
- UndersteerWhen the front tyres lose grip first, so the car won’t turn as much as the driver asks and runs wide.
- OversteerWhen the rear tyres lose grip first, so the back of the car slides out and the car turns more than the driver asked.
- BalanceHow evenly grip is shared between the front and rear tyres. A balanced car slides at both ends at once; an unbalanced one understeers or oversteers.
- Counter-steerSteering the opposite way to the corner to catch a car whose rear is sliding out. Also called opposite lock.
- Trail brakingEasing off the brake while turning into a corner, rather than finishing all the braking in a straight line. It keeps weight on the front tyres so the car turns in.
- Pointy front endA car that turns in quickly with only a little steering. It feels sharp, but the back of the car can snap away.
- SetupHow a team adjusts the car for a track and a driver: wing angles, suspension stiffness, ride height and more. Small changes alter how the car feels.
- Grip circleA way to picture a tyre’s grip as a circle. The tyre can use its grip to brake, turn or accelerate, but the total can’t go outside the circle. Ask it to turn hard while also braking or accelerating hard, and it slides.
- Lock-upWhen a tyre stops turning under braking and skids, with a puff of smoke. It wears a flat spot into the tyre that causes vibration for the rest of the stint.
- TelemetryLive data sent from the car to the team: speed, throttle, brakes, tyre temperatures and hundreds more readings.
New for 2026
- Corner ModeThe normal setting for the 2026 cars’ moving wings, angled steeply for maximum downforce and grip.
- Straight ModeA setting, new for 2026, that flattens the front and rear wings to cut drag on set stretches of straight. Every driver can use it, and the wings snap back to Corner Mode as soon as the driver brakes or lifts off the throttle.
- Overtake ModeThe main overtaking aid from 2026, now that DRS is gone. A driver within one second of the car ahead at a detection point gets extra electrical energy to use on the next lap.
- BoostA button that lets a driver spend stored battery energy for extra power, anywhere on the lap, for attacking or defending.
- RechargeRefilling the battery by harvesting energy when the car brakes or the driver lifts off the throttle.
- Lift and coastLifting off the throttle a little before the braking zone and coasting, so the car can recharge its battery (or save fuel and brakes). It costs a little time on that straight.
- Super clippingThe car recharging its battery near the end of some straights even with the throttle flat, so it slows down before the driver brakes. It’s new for 2026.
- DRSDrag Reduction System: a flap in the rear wing a chasing driver could open on straights to help overtake. Used from 2011 to 2025, then replaced by active aero and Overtake Mode.
- Power unitF1’s name for the engine: a 1.6-litre turbocharged V6 working with an electric motor. From 2026 the electric side supplies about half the power.
Tyres and race weekends
- CompoundA tyre’s rubber mix, graded by how soft it is. Pirelli makes C1 (hardest) to C5 (softest) and brings three to each race, called hard, medium and soft. Softer is faster but wears out sooner.
- StintThe laps a driver does on one set of tyres, from leaving the pits until the next stop.
- DegradationHow much slower a tyre gets as it wears. Teams call it “deg”. High deg means lap times fall away quickly.
- The cliffThe point where a worn tyre suddenly loses its grip and lap times drop off sharply.
- GrainingLittle rolls of rubber that tear off the tread and stick back on to it, so the tyre slides on them. It often clears after a few laps.
- BlisteringBubbles that form when the inside of a tyre gets too hot. They leave chunks missing from the tread.
- IntermediateThe green-marked tyre with shallow grooves, for a damp track or light rain. Full wets (blue) have deeper grooves for heavy rain.
- CrossoverThe moment a drying (or wetting) track makes the next type of tyre faster, and everyone starts thinking about pitting.
- Pit stopWhen a car comes into the pit lane for fresh tyres. The crew changes all four in around two seconds.
- UndercutPitting before a rival, then using the speed of fresh tyres to be ahead once they’ve made their own stop.
- OvercutStaying out longer than a rival who has pitted, hoping clear track and a good rhythm make up the time.
- QualifyingThe Saturday session that sets the starting order. It runs in three knockout rounds, Q1, Q2 and Q3, with the slowest drivers dropping out after each of the first two.
- Pole positionFirst place on the starting grid, earned by setting the fastest lap in qualifying.
- SprintA short race of about 100 km held on 6 weekends a season, with points for the top 8.
- Safety carA road car that leads the field at reduced speed after a crash or hazard. No overtaking is allowed until it pulls in.
- Virtual Safety CarA period of reduced speed with no actual safety car on track. Every driver must stick to a set slower pace, and nobody may overtake.
- SectorOne of the three parts every lap is split into for timing, so you can see where on the track a driver is quick or slow.
- Street circuitA track laid out on public roads that are closed for the race weekend, with walls close on both sides. Monaco is the most famous.
Teams and the championship
- ConstructorF1’s word for a team, because every team must design and build its own car. The Constructors’ Championship adds up the points of each team’s two drivers.
- Team principalThe person in charge of a team. They run the factory and the race crew and make the big calls, such as strategy and which drivers to hire.
- Works teamA team that builds its own engine, or is the official partner of the company that does. It gets the engine designed around its car.
- Customer teamA team that buys its engine from another maker. The engine is the same, but the car around it is the team’s own.
- TeammateThe other driver in the same team. With the same car, they’re the one rival a driver can be measured against fairly.
- SuperlicenceThe licence a driver needs to race in F1. It takes 40 points from junior series over three seasons, two full seasons of racing, a rules test and an 18th birthday.
- Driver academyA team’s scheme for signing young drivers and paying towards their racing. The aim is to bring a future champion to F1.
- RookieA driver in their first season of F1, with no grand prix starts before it.
- Cost capThe most a team may spend in a season, $215 million in 2026. Drivers’ pay and a few other costs don’t count.