Qualifying

Each segment is timed and only a driver's single best lap counts. The eliminated cars fill the grid from the back in the order they were knocked out, so a Q1 exit is not the same as being slowest overall — it means being slowest at that moment, which on a drying track or after a red flag can happen to anybody.

The format rewards a car that can produce one perfect lap on fresh tyres, which is not always the same car that is quickest over a race stint. A team whose car is gentle on its rubber may qualify modestly and race well; the opposite is just as common, and it is why Saturday's order is a poor predictor of Sunday's.

Traffic is the recurring problem. Every driver wants clear air and a tow down the straights, and twenty cars trying to arrange both on one out-lap produces the queues at pit exit that end in impeding penalties. On a short circuit it becomes the defining skill of the session.

Track evolution runs through all of it. Rubber goes down, the surface gets quicker, and the last laps of each segment are usually the fastest — which is why a driver who sets a time early can watch it fall away without ever leaving the garage.