Qualifying Format (Q1/Q2/Q3)

Qualifying runs as three knockout segments. In Q1, all cars run and the slowest five are eliminated and locked into the back of the grid in the order they qualified. The rest advance to Q2, where the same cut happens again, eliminating five more.

The remaining ten cars go into Q3 to fight for pole position and the rest of the top-ten grid slots. Each segment has its own fixed time window, so drivers eliminated early get less track time overall, and teams have to decide how many sets of tyres to spend getting through Q1 and Q2 versus saving fresh ones for a final Q3 push.

Some seasons have also required the top ten to start the race on the tyre they set their best Q2 time on, tying grid position and starting-tyre strategy together; that specific rule has been added, dropped, and reinstated across different years, so it's worth checking whether it's active for the season in question rather than assuming.