F1 Qualifying Explained: How the Grid Order Is Decided

Qualifying is the session held on Saturday at a Formula 1 race weekend that determines the starting order for Sunday’s race. The faster a driver qualifies, the further towards the front they start. It uses a knockout format with three stages — Q1, Q2, and Q3. The driver who sets the fastest time in Q3 earns pole position. Qualifying is tense, high-speed, and frequently dramatic, as every driver pushes their car and tyres to the absolute limit to set the fastest possible time.

Example: It’s an extraordinary lap from Leclerc in qualifying — he’s taken pole position by three tenths of a second!