at
Indianapolis Motor Speedway during the qualifying for
2005 United States Grand Prix Formula 1 qualifying takes place before each race to decide the starting grid order. The driver who sets the fastest lap starts from pole position at the front of the grid, while slower lap times line up progressively behind. Any drivers unable to set a qualifying time, for mechanical, weather, or penalty-related reasons, are placed at the back of the grid.
Historical methods Traditionally before , qualifying was split into two one-hour sessions; the first was held on Friday (Thursday at
Monaco) afternoon from 13:00 to 14:00 local time, with the second held on Saturday afternoon at the same time. The fastest time set by each driver from either session counted towards their final
grid position. Each driver was limited to twelve laps per session. In 1996, qualifying was amended with the Friday qualifying session abolished in a favour for a single qualifying session held on Saturday afternoon. Each driver was limited to twelve laps with the inclusion of a
107% rule to exclude drivers with slow lap times. This was calculated by using the time of the driver on pole position and adding on 7% to create a cut-off time. This format remained until the conclusion of the
2002 season. Between and , the qualifying session was run as a one-lap session and took place on Friday and Saturday afternoon with the cars running one at a time, immediately returning to the pits through the pit exit after completing their laps. In 2003, the Friday running order was determined with the leader of the Drivers' Championship heading out first. The Saturday running order was determined by times set in Friday afternoon qualifying with the fastest heading out last and the slowest running first. No refuelling was allowed between the start of Saturday qualifying and the start of the race, so drivers qualified on race fuel. The lap times from the Friday afternoon session did not determine the grid order. In 2004, the Friday session was moved to Saturday. The running order for the first session was now based on the result of the previous race. At first both sessions were held back-to-back, but the first session was later moved earlier in the day. At the start of 2005, the sessions were held on Saturday afternoon and Sunday morning. Lap times from both sessions were counted to give the overall aggregate position. From the
2005 European Grand Prix onwards, the Sunday morning session was dropped for a single run on Saturday afternoon having proved unpopular with drivers, teams and broadcasters. The running order was the reverse of the previous race result.
Current format Since , qualifying takes place on Saturday afternoon in a three-stage "knockout" system. One hour is dedicated to determining the grid order, divided into three periods with short intermissions between them. Since 2010, the first qualifying period (Q1) is eighteen minutes long, with all twenty cars competing. At the end of Q1, the five slowest drivers are eliminated from further qualification rounds, and fill positions sixteen to twenty on the grid based on their fastest lap time. Any driver attempting to set a qualifying time when the period ends is permitted to finish their lap, though no new laps may be started once the chequered flag is shown. After a short break, the second period (Q2) (15 minutes long) begins, with fifteen cars on the circuit. At the end of Q2, the five slowest drivers are once again eliminated, filling grid positions eleven to fifteen. Finally, the third qualifying period (Q3) (previously 12 minutes, now 13 minutes long from 2026 onwards) features the ten fastest drivers from the second period. The drivers are issued a new set of soft tyres and have twelve minutes to set a qualifying time, which will determine the top ten positions on the grid. The driver who sets the fastest qualifying time is said to be on
pole position, the grid position that offers the best physical position from which to start the race.
Sprint qualifying Following the decision to make
sprints standalone from 2023 onwards, sprints were given a dedicated qualifying session, dubbed in 2023 "sprint shootout" and "sprint qualifying" in 2024. The format of sprint shootout is the same as qualifying, but with the three segments (dubbed "SQ1", "SQ2" and "SQ3" instead of "Q1", "Q2" and "Q3") being shorter at 12 minutes, 10 minutes and 8 minutes, instead of 18, 15 and 12 minutes. Initially, new tyres were mandatory for each phase, with mediums for SQ1 and SQ2, and softs for SQ3. This was changed for the
2023 Austrian Grand Prix to allow teams the ability to use any set of soft tyres, be it new or used, for SQ3, after
Lando Norris could not run in SQ3 at the
2023 Azerbaijan Grand Prix, after exhausting his allocation of soft tyres.
Qualifying requirements As of , ten teams are entered for the
Formula One World Championship, each entering two cars for a total of twenty cars. The regulations place a limit of twenty-six entries for the championship. At some periods in the history of Formula One the number of cars entered for each race has exceeded the number permitted, which historically would vary from race to race according to the circuit used;
Monaco, for example, for many years allowed only twenty cars to compete because of the restricted space available. The slowest cars excess to the circuit limit would not qualify for the race and would be listed as 'Did not qualify' (DNQ) in race results.
Historical pre-qualifying There had been pre-qualifying sessions in the late 1970s, but during the late 1980s and early 1990s the number of cars attempting to enter each race was as high as thirty-nine for some races. Because of the dangers of having so many cars on the track at the same time, pre-qualifying sessions were re-introduced for the teams with the worst record over the previous twelve months, including any new teams. Usually, only the four fastest cars from this session were then allowed into the qualifying session proper, where thirty cars competed for twenty-six places on the starting grid for the race. The slowest cars from the pre-qualifying session were listed in race results as 'Did Not Pre-Qualify' (DNPQ). Pre-qualifying was discontinued after the
1992 Hungarian Grand Prix when many small teams withdrew from the sport.
107% rule As the number of cars entered in the world championship fell below twenty-six, a situation arose in which any car entered would automatically qualify for the race, no matter how slowly it had been driven. The 107% rule was introduced in to prevent completely uncompetitive cars being entered in the championship. If a car's qualifying time was not within 107% of the pole sitter's time, that car would not qualify for the race, unless at the discretion of the race stewards for a situation such as a rain-affected qualifying session. For example, if the pole-sitter's time was one minute and forty seconds, any car eligible for racing had to set a time within one minute and forty-seven seconds. The 107% rule was removed in since the FIA's rules indicated previously that 24 cars could take the start of a Formula One race, and a minimum of twenty cars had to enter a race. In , the qualifying procedure changed to a single-lap system, rendering the rule inoperable. However, there were concerns about the pace of the new teams in the 2010 season. As the qualifying procedure had been changed since the 2006 season to a three-part knockout system, the rule could now be reintroduced. As such, the 107% rule was reintroduced in the
2011 Formula One season. Currently, cars eliminated in Q1 have to be within 107% of the fastest Q1 time in order to qualify for the race. Since the rule was re-introduced, only twice have cars failed to qualify for a Grand Prix – both times involving
Hispania Racing cars and both times occurring at the
Australian Grand Prix, namely in
2011 (
Vitantonio Liuzzi and
Narain Karthikeyan) and
2012 (Karthikeyan and
Pedro de la Rosa). At their discretion, stewards may permit a driver who fails to set a qualifying time within the desired 107% span to enter the race; for example, at the
2018 British Grand Prix,
Lance Stroll and
Brendon Hartley both failed to set times within 107%, but were permitted to race on the grounds of satisfactory lap times in free practice. After eleven drivers failed to set satisfactory Q1 times at the
2016 Hungarian Grand Prix due to inclement weather, the regulations were amended in 2018 so that wet sessions were not subject to the
107% rule.
Grid penalties Drivers or cars may be issued penalties against their starting positions, commonly for exceeding component limits, or sporting offences in free practice, qualifying, or a previous race. This can lead to the starting grid being significantly different from the qualifying order. == Sprint ==