Summary
F1 qualifying is a one-hour session on the Saturday that sets Sunday's grid. It runs in three knock-out segments: the slowest cars drop out at the end of each, until the ten quickest fight for pole in a final shoot-out. Pole is the best seat on the grid but worth nothing on its own; the points come on Sunday. Six weekends a year add a sprint with its own short qualifying.
If you are at a Grand Prix on the Saturday, qualifying is the highlight of the day, and often better theatre than the race itself. It is a one-hour session that sets Sunday's starting grid, run as a straight knock-out: the field is cut down over three rounds until the ten fastest drivers get a single shot at pole. The last ten minutes are the best of the weekend, so be in your seat for them.
From 2026 there are twenty-two cars on the grid, Cadillac the new arrival. The knock-out format itself has been around since 2006; only the timings have changed.
The three segments
- Q1Eighteen minutes, all twenty-two cars. Everyone runs as many laps as their tyres allow, and the slowest six are out, locked into grid places 17 to 22. This is where a big name occasionally gets caught napping in traffic.
- Q2Fifteen minutes, sixteen cars. The slowest six are eliminated into places 11 to 16. The strategy round: teams weigh burning a fresh set of soft tyres to get through against saving them for the race.
- Q3Thirteen minutes, the top ten. The pole shoot-out: fresh softs, usually two flying laps, and the single fastest lap of the day takes pole. Tenth fastest starts tenth. The part worth watching.
Why pole matters
Pole position is the inside of the front row, and on most circuits the best piece of tarmac on the grid: the cleanest line, the rubbered-in groove, the shortest route to the first corner. On its own it is worth nothing, just a good start. Win the race from it and that is twenty-five points.
How much it matters depends on the track. Monaco is the extreme: the streets are too tight and the cars too big to overtake, so pole usually means the win and the race can be a procession. Spa is the opposite, a slipstream down the Kemmel Straight long enough that a car starting second with a tow can be past the pole-sitter before the first corner. Over a season it tells: the drivers with the most poles tend to be the ones lifting the title. Lewis Hamilton holds the record at 104, ahead of Michael Schumacher on 68 and Ayrton Senna on 65, all multiple world champions.
Sprint weekends
Six weekends in 2026 carry a sprint: China, Miami, Canada, Britain, the Netherlands and Singapore. They reshuffle the schedule, with a separate, shorter knock-out, twelve, ten and eight minutes, on the Friday setting the grid for a short Saturday sprint race, while a normal qualifying session still decides Sunday. The sprint runs about a hundred kilometres, a third of a Grand Prix, and pays points to the top eight. Its grid has no bearing on Sunday's.
Things that trip people up
- No lap time setStarts from the back of the grid, and needs the stewards' nod to start at all.
- Damage in qualifyingYou keep the grid slot you earned before the shunt. Repairs are allowed, but swapping a gearbox or engine can bring a grid penalty.
- The 107 per cent ruleAny car slower than 107 per cent of the fastest Q1 time can be refused a start. Rare in the dry, occasionally decisive in the wet.
- Yellow flagsSlow down through that sector. Improve your time through one and the lap is deleted, which in Q1 or Q2 can be the difference between out and through.
If you are heading to a Grand Prix, the Saturday is the one to be trackside in good time. Where you watch qualifying from makes the hour, and that part we arrange.
Chloe Burchell
Event Manager
Event Manager at Imperial Corporate Events. She’s hosted clients at everything from the Six Nations to the Eastern & Oriental Express, and she’s good company on the day.
