the beginner's guide to F1 (part 2): drivers, teams, terms, and memes

so, you’re new to F1. whether it’s the teams, drivers, terminology or memes that have you scratching your head, i’ll help you find your way around the pinnacle of motorsport. this part is about the terminology that fans and the FIA use.

a lot of abbreviations and phrases get thrown around, and when i was new to F1 they completely confused me, because nobody on the broadcast stops to explain them. so here are some basic (and some less basic) terms you’ll hear while watching races or arguing about the sport online. each one gets a definition and an example.

downforce

the aerodynamic force that pushes the car down toward the track, which increases grip and cornering speed. it’s generated by the wings and the floor, and it’s crucial for stability at high speed. the price is drag, so more downforce means less speed on the straights.

example: everyone runs a high-downforce rear wing at monaco because of the tight corners and short straights.

FIA (fédération internationale de l’automobile)

the governing body of formula one. they write and enforce the rules, set the safety standards, license the drivers, approve the circuits and appoint the stewards who hand out penalties. they also govern other series like WEC, WRC and formula e. race contracts are a separate thing: those are signed by formula one itself, the commercial side, which just renewed austin until 2034.

example: the FIA stewards gave carlos sainz a five-place grid penalty for mexico after his collision with kimi antonelli in austin.

grid

the starting positions of the 20 (soon to be 22) cars before the start of a race, set by qualifying the day before, plus any penalties.

example: there was an unfamiliar face near the front of the grid in baku, where liam lawson qualified P3 in a session with a record six red flags.

pecking order

the informal ranking of teams by performance, over the season or on one particular weekend. it isn’t official, but everyone uses it to work out who’s leading, who’s in the midfield and who’s a backmarker.

example: aston martin surprisingly moved up the pecking order in hungary, taking the whole third row in qualifying.

midfield

the group of teams that fight for the last points-paying spots or finish just outside them: roughly the 5th to 8th best teams on the grid, the ones that aren’t bad but aren’t great either.

example: the midfield is tight this season. after mexico, racing bulls, aston martin, haas and sauber are covered by 12 points.

backmarker

a team that is almost always at the back and rarely scores points: the slowest on the grid.

example: a year after putting both cars on the podium in brazil, alpine are this season’s backmarkers, last in the constructors’ championship with 20 points (all of them pierre gasly’s).

grand slam

when one driver takes pole position, wins the race, leads every single lap and sets the fastest lap, all in the same weekend. it’s very rare, and it means total domination.

example: verstappen’s win in baku last month was a grand slam, the sixth of his career. that ties him with lewis hamilton, and only jim clark (eight) has more.

number two driver

the driver in a team who isn’t as fast as the other one and often ends up assisting them and playing the team game.

example: there is a very compelling argument that rubens barrichello, michael schumacher’s brazilian wingman during the ferrari dominance era, is the greatest number two driver of all time.

chicane

a quick sequence of corners going in opposite directions, usually placed after a straight to slow the cars down.

example: crofty at silverstone in 2022: “leclerc has that inside line. perez goes off the track, cuts the chicane. off goes leclerc. through goes hamilton!”

i’ll be continuing this series next week with an in-depth article about the different teams and drivers in the sport. my race summary of the mexico city GP will go live sometime tomorrow. enjoy reading.