The race weekend
What happens from Friday to Sunday, and how a sprint weekend is different.
Every stop on the calendar is a Grand Prix (French for "big prize"). You'll also hear it called a round or a race weekend. Think of the season as a league of around two dozen matches, where each match is a whole weekend of action at a different circuit.
A normal weekend
| Day | What happens |
|---|---|
| Friday | Two practice sessions (Practice 1 and 2). No points. Teams learn the track and test the car. |
| Saturday | Practice 3, then Qualifying, which decides the starting order. |
| Sunday | The Race. The only session that scores full points. |
Everything before Sunday is about two questions: how fast is the car? and where will everyone start?
A sprint weekend
Some weekends (six in 2026) add a short extra race on Saturday, so the schedule is squeezed into fewer sessions.
| Day | What happens |
|---|---|
| Friday | Practice 1, then Sprint Qualifying, which sets the grid for the sprint. |
| Saturday | The Sprint (a short race), then Qualifying for Sunday's grid. |
| Sunday | The Race, exactly as normal. |
A sprint weekend has two separate grids and two sets of results. On our results pages you can switch between them with the tabs. Read more about qualifying and the race.
Tip: the home page shows the next sessions in your own time zone, so you don't need to convert them.