The cars flash by in the blink of an eye. GOAT of the sport Lewis Hamilton will reportedly make an eye-watering $100 million in 2025. Celebrities jet around the world to watch. And if you’re in the US, races seem to intersect perfectly with Sunday brunch.
Formula 1 racing has been gaining a foothold in American sports media over the last few years, and interest is only getting bigger: ESPN reported that eight out of 23 races it broadcast in 2023 set US television F1 viewership records, and viewership has doubled since the 2018 season.
Even if you don’t watch the races, news about F1 teams and drivers is likely making its way into social media feeds and onto your TV screens. If you’re familiar with NASCAR or IndyCar racing, F1 racing will be recognizable, but once you dig into the international motorsport series and you’ll find its actually quite different from both of those series too.
Plus, there is no shortage of celebrity attention on the series, with the likes of Tom Cruise and Shaq being familiar faces in the paddock, Brad Pitt shooting his F1-inspired film during the 2023 season and Ryan Reynolds, Rob McElhenney, Patrick Mahomes, Travis Kelce and more all investing in the team Alpine.
If you’ve encountered F1 in the wild — maybe Drive to Survive popped up in your Netflix recommendations — and you’re looking to understand what’s up with the race-weekend craze, I’ve got you covered. I’ve been a fan for years and obsessively follow the sport. To help get you up to speed, I’ve rounded up everything you need to know about F1.
For more, here’s how to watch F1 and the best sports streaming service.
Max Verstappen won 19 Grands Prix in 2023, setting a new record.
Which teams will participate in F1 in the 2024?
Here are the 10 teams and their drivers competing in the 2024 season (listed in 2023’s championship order):
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Red Bull Racing, with competing drivers Max Verstappen (three-time world champion and current title-holder) and Sergio Perez.
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Mercedes, with competing drivers Lewis Hamilton (seven-time world champion) and George Russell.
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Ferrari, with competing drivers Charles LeClerc and Carlos Sainz.
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McLaren, with competing drivers Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri.
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Aston Martin, with competing drivers Fernando Alonso (two-time world champion) and Lance Stroll.
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Alpine, with competing drivers Esteban Ocon and Pierre Gasly.
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Williams, with competing drivers Alex Albon and Logan Sargent.
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Visa Cash App Racing Bulls, or RB (formerly AlphaTauri), with competing drivers Daniel Ricciardo and Yuki Tsunoda.
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Kick Sauber (formerly Alfa Romeo), with competing drivers Valterri Bottas and Zhou Guanyu.
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Haas, with competing drivers Kevin Magnussen and Nico Hulkenberg.
Wondering which teams to keep an eye on?
F1 fans and creators of the Two Girls 1 Formula podcast Kate Byrne and Nicole Sievers have advice for new fans. Byrne offered up Ferrari as her team to watch this season, because of a run of good hires. Sievers selected McLaren as her pick, calling them “sneaky fast” and noting they finished strongly last year. Sievers also likes Williams, one of F1’s most storied teams, as an underdog pick for the season.
What is an F1 race weekend like?
A Grand Prix race typically stretches over three or four days, usually beginning on a Thursday but sometimes on a Friday with media day, where drivers give interviews and arrive at the track, and ending on a Sunday — and a few times on a Saturday — with the race.
In between are practice sessions and a qualifying session where drivers compete for their grid placements for weekend race.
The race, or Grand Prix, is from 40 to 80 laps long and can last up to two hours. Most Grands Prix are on purpose-built race tracks, but some, like Monaco and Las Vegas, take place on city streets.
This format shifts a bit during a sprint race weekend. A sprint race is a shorter version of a Grand Prix, lasting anywhere from 15 to 35 laps. A sprint race weekend will have one practice session, a special qualifying session called a Sprint Shootout on Friday, the sprint race itself and the Grand Prix qualifying session on Saturday, and the Grand Prix on Sunday.
A couple of changes and additions to the schedule this year are worth noting. The first two races of the season, the Bahrain Grand Prix and Saudi Arabian Grand Prix, were held on Saturdays, out of respect for Ramadan. And the Chinese Grand Prix is back on the calendar, for the first time since 2019.
When are this year’s Grands Prix to watch?
This season has 24 Grands Prix over 10 months.
F1 2024 schedule
