How points work
Not verifiedOwner draft, source ESPN, Aug 2026
An unofficial motorsport reference
The pit wall, explained
Plain-English guides to the rules, cars, tyres and tracks of modern motor racing, plus calculators and a first-timer's trip planner.
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Strategy desk
Race time0:00:00.0
vs quickest plan0.0 s
Time in the pits0 s
Show the data as a table
| Stint | Tyre | Laps | Avg gap to base |
|---|
02 | Start here
Three guides, then everything else makes sense.
Each guide answers in its first two sentences, then shows its working and the date it was checked.
- 01
How a race weekend works
Practice, qualifying, the sprint and the race, in the order they happen.
In build - 02
What the flags mean
Every flag and the message it sends to the drivers.
In build - 03
Tyre compounds explained
Soft, medium, hard, intermediate and wet, and why teams pick one.
In build
A race weekend, in order
A grand prix runs a set number of laps, roughly 305 km, with a maximum time limit. Monaco is shorter.
- Stage 1
Practice
Three sessions. Teams learn the track, test set-ups and try tyres. Nothing counts towards the result.
- Stage 2
Qualifying
A knockout in three parts (Q1, Q2, Q3) that decides the starting grid. The fastest driver starts first, from pole.
- Stage 3
The racePoints
The grand prix itself, on Sunday. Points go to the top ten finishers.
03 | The car
Six parts that explain most of what you hear.
Tap a number. Every part links, in time, to its own page with the working shown.
Part 1 of 6
Front wing
The first part to meet the air. It makes downforce and steers airflow around the front tyres.
Original diagramNot to scaleNo team, no livery
04 | The numbers
Reference you can read at a glance.
Figures from the owner draft, each marked Not verified until its record passes the desk checks.
2026 rules
Apr 2026Super clip power limit
250 → 350kW
Raised, in qualifying and the race.
Qualifying recharge per lap
8 → 7MJ
The low-energy limit now applies at twelve events, not eight.
Not verifiedOwner draft, Honda explainer, 27 Apr 2026
Flags
Tap a flagYellowDanger ahead. Slow down and do not overtake in that zone.
Nine signals
Trip cost, a worked example
2 people | 3 days$2,390$1,195 per person | example inputs, not real prices
- Tickets$500
- Hotel$540
- Travel$800
- Food$360
- Local$90
- Extras$100
Always check the organiser's site for real pricesCalculator in build
Plain words for the pit wall.
27 terms, one plain sentence or two each. Type a word, or a part of what it does.
27 terms
- Apex
- The point on a corner where the car is closest to the inside edge. Drivers aim to reach it to carry speed onto the next straight.
- Boost
- A mode that uses additional electric power to help with overtaking or defending.
- Box
- A radio call telling the driver to come into the pit lane for a stop.
- Chicane
- A tight sequence of left and right corners, often added to slow cars down.
- Compound
- The rubber mix of a tyre. Softer compounds grip more and wear faster; harder compounds last longer.
- Degradation
- The loss of tyre performance as the rubber wears and overheats, so lap times rise over a stint.
- Delta
- The time difference between two laps, two cars or a target time.
- Deployment
- The battery adding electric power to the engine's output.
- Downforce
- Air pushing the car onto the track, which gives grip in corners.
- Drag
- Air resisting the car, which limits its straight-line speed.
- Formation lap
- The lap before the start, when cars drive to the grid in order and warm their tyres.
- Grid
- The starting positions for a race, set by qualifying.
- Harvesting
- Capturing energy to recharge the battery, for example while braking.
- In-lap and out-lap
- The lap into the pits before a stop, and the lap back out of the pits afterwards.
- Lapped car
- A car that the race leader has caught and passed, putting it a full lap behind. It must let faster cars by when shown a blue flag.
- Lift and coast
- The driver lifts off the throttle before a corner so the electric motor can recover energy.
- Overcut
- Staying out on track while a rival pits, aiming to lap quickly in clear air and come out ahead after your own stop later.
- Parc fermé
- A closed-park rule: after qualifying, cars are held under strict limits on what can be changed.
- Pit wall
- The row of screens by the pit lane where the team watches the race, plans strategy and speaks to the drivers by radio.
- Pole position
- First place on the starting grid, earned by the fastest lap in qualifying.
- Regenerative braking
- The electric motor recovers energy while the car slows for a corner.
- Safety car
- A car that leads the field at reduced speed after a serious incident. Overtaking is not allowed.
- Slipstream (tow)
- Following closely behind another car, where the air is disturbed, to cut drag and gain speed.
- Stint
- The period between pit stops on one set of tyres.
- Super clipping
- In the 2026 rules, near the end of a straight the electric motor harvests energy, which slows the car. Its power limit was 250 kW and was raised to 350 kW.
- Undercut
- Pitting before a rival so fresher tyres give faster laps, aiming to come out ahead when the rival stops.
- Virtual safety car
- A slow-down in which drivers must stay inside a set time target, with no physical safety car on track.
No glossary match. Try a shorter word.
05 | Tools
Four calculators that run in your browser.
Defaults are illustrative, not real tyre or car data. Nothing you type is stored or sent.
Tyre strategy
One stop against two, with your own pit-loss and lap-time numbers.
Preview aboveGear and speed
Speed in each gear from rpm, ratios, final drive and tyre size.
In buildLap time and fuel
Lap time to average speed, race time and fuel load.
In buildTrip cost
Tickets, hotel, travel and food added up for your weekend.
In build
06 | Method
Independent by design.
Unofficial
Not affiliated with any series, team, driver or governing body.
Original diagrams
Every illustration is drawn for this site. No logos, liveries or borrowed photos.
No news, no betting
Evergreen explainers and tools, so nothing goes stale overnight.
Dated rules
Rules sections show when they were last checked against their sources.
How we label facts
Every changeable fact carries one of three labels, so you can see how far to trust it.
Not verifiedDrafted and sourced, but not yet checked against our test set.
Desk verifiedPassed the automated checks against its source on the date shown.
VerifiedDesk verified, plus a person's logged in-person check.
Start with the basics.
Three short guides, then the tools and the trip planner when you are ready.