Glossary
F1 glossary
Heard a commentator say something baffling? It's probably here.
- Active Aero
- Since 2026, the front and rear wing flaps move. They open on designated straights (Straight Mode) to cut drag and close for corners (Corner Mode) to give grip. Any driver can use it in the zones, whoever is ahead. Learn more →
- Apex
- The innermost point of a corner. Hitting it precisely is what makes a lap fast.
- Blue flag
- Shown to a car about to be lapped. It means let the faster car through. Learn more →
- Boost
- A 2026 button that lets the driver deploy stored battery energy anywhere on the lap, to attack or defend, as long as there is charge available. Learn more →
- Box
- Radio code for 'come into the pits this lap'. 'Box, box' is the classic call. Learn more →
- Compound
- How soft or hard a tyre is. Softer tyres are faster but wear out sooner. Learn more →
- Constructors' Championship
- The team title. Both drivers' points are added together. Learn more →
- Dirty air
- Turbulent air coming off a car ahead. It reduces grip for the car following, which makes overtaking harder.
- DNF
- Did Not Finish: the car retired from the race.
- DRS
- Drag Reduction System, the opening rear-wing flap used from 2011 to 2025. Replaced in 2026 by Active Aero and Overtake Mode. Learn more →
- Formation lap
- The slow lap before the start, used to warm up tyres and brakes before the cars line up on the grid.
- Grid penalty
- A punishment that moves a driver back from where they qualified, for example after changing too many engine parts. Learn more →
- Lights out
- The start of the race. Five red lights come on one by one, and when they all go out the race begins.
- Overtake Mode
- The 2026 replacement for DRS. If a driver is within one second of the car ahead at a detection point, they get extra electrical energy to use on the next lap. Learn more →
- Parc fermé
- French for 'closed park'. After qualifying begins, teams can make only very limited changes to the car's setup.
- Pole position
- First place on the starting grid, earned by setting the fastest lap in qualifying. Learn more →
- Safety Car
- A road car that leads the field at reduced speed while an incident is cleared. Overtaking isn't allowed behind it. Learn more →
- Sprint
- A short race of about 100 km, held on six weekends a season, that pays points to the top eight. Learn more →
- Stint
- The run of laps a driver does on one set of tyres, between pit stops.
- Undercut
- Pitting before a rival so your fresh tyres let you gain enough time to come out ahead once they stop. Learn more →
- Virtual Safety Car (VSC)
- Every driver must slow to a set delta time at once, without a physical Safety Car on track. Learn more →
- Wildcard (The Grid game)
- In our prediction game, a bonus pick for who finishes in a randomly chosen position. Learn more →