SPORT Formula 1®: The Glossary (You’ll want to know this)

At TAG Heuer, our passion for Formula 1® runs deep — it’s part of our DNA. Welcome to this special series where we share what every true enthusiast should know about this thrilling sport.

At TAG Heuer, our mission goes far beyond timing down to the thousandth of a second. As the Official Timekeeper of Formula 1®, we see ourselves as storytellers of speed—bridging the gap between this exhilarating world and those eager to discover, understand, and fall in love with it.

That’s why we’ve created this F1® glossary: a clear, accessible, and compelling guide designed to help you decode the language of motorsport’s top discipline. Whether you’re a curious newcomer, a long-time fan, or just someone with an appetite for precision, this glossary is for you.

• Lap time: how long it takes a driver to complete one full lap.
• Sector time: each track is divided into three sectors. This measures how long a driver takes in each one.
• Fastest lap: the quickest lap time recorded during the session. During the GRAND PRIX, if the driver finishes in the top ten, they earn an extra point.  
• Delta: the time difference between two drivers—or compared to a benchmark time.
• Gap: the real-time interval between the current leader of a race and any other driver in the race (e.g., “Verstappen is 30 seconds ahead of 15th position”).
• Interval: the real-time interval between two drivers (e.g., “Verstappen in fifth is 3.2 seconds ahead of the driver behind him in 6th”).
• Timing screen: the live leaderboard showing lap times, sector times, progress around the track, number of laps and official order throughout the sessions.
• Ideal time: theoretical best time a driver could achieve if they strung together all the overall best sector times from a session.
• FP1, FP2, FP3: free Practice sessions before qualifying.
• Q1, Q2, Q3: the three parts of qualifying, with progressive eliminations leading to pole position.
• SQ1, SQ2, SQ3: the three parts of Sprint qualifying with progressive eliminations leading to pole position.
• Formation lap: the lap just before the race starts, used to warm up tires and brakes.
• Flying lap: a full lap of the track in practice or qualifying when a driver is pushing to set a fast time.
  

• Purple: purple refers to the fastest time overall so far – whether in a sector or for the full lap – across all drivers. If a driver sets the best time in a sector or on a lap up to that point in the session, it is marked as purple. However, it can be beaten if the session is still ongoing.
• Green: driver’s personal best lap time, sector time or speed in a particular area of the circuit during the specific session & so far.

• Dry: clear, dry conditions.
• Wet: track has been declared wet by race control. 
• Crossover point: the crucial lap time when it’s best to switch between slicks and wet tires (or vice versa), based on evolving conditions.
• Intermediates (Inters): tires for damp conditions—not fully wet but too slippery for slicks.
• Full wet: tires designed for heavy rain.
• Aquaplaning: loss of control caused by excess water under the tires. 

• Downforce (Aerodynamic ): it pushes the car down for better cornering but often reduces top speed due to increased drag. Improving aero efficiency can help balance both.
• Chassis: the main structure or “body” of the car.
• PU (Power Unit): the internal combustion engine and turbocharger, complete with its ancillaries, any energy recovery system and all actuation systems and PU-Control electronics necessary to make them function at all times.
• MGU-K: captures energy from braking and stores it—like a rechargeable battery.
• MGU-H: recovers heat energy from the exhaust and converts it into electrical power.
• Telemetry: live car data used to monitor condition, performance, and diagnose issues. Strategy mainly relies on timing but uses telemetry if problems or tire changes arise.

• Pit stop window: the ideal timeframe to change tires with minimal time or position loss.
• Tire management: a driver’s action to preserve tire life and avoid excessive degradation.
• Quali mode / Race mode: different engine strategies achieved by adjusting settings across various power unit components. 
• Lift and coast: a technique where the driver lifts off the throttle early before braking. In F1®, it’s mainly used for energy recovery, managing rear tire temperatures, and sometimes saving fuel—not primarily to reduce brake wear.
• Delta time: time difference between drivers —used to gauge performance.

• Team radio: driver-to-engineer communication (and return) vital for managing the car and the race strategy  
• Track limits: the physical boundaries of the circuit that drivers must respect. Repeatedly exceeding these sporting limits can lead to penalties. 
• Drive-through: a penalty that requires the driver to drive through the pit lane without stopping.
• Stop-and-Go: a stricter penalty where the driver must stop in the pits for a set time (typically 5 or 10 seconds) before rejoining.
• Grid penalty: a penalty that drops a driver several places on the starting grid.

• Constructors’ Championship: the team competition, scored separately from the Drivers’ Championship.
• Triple Crown: winning the GRAND PRIX de Monaco, 24 Hours of Le Mans, and Indy 500. Only Graham Hill has achieved this feat.
• Grand Slam: a Grand Slam in Formula 1® is when a driver starts from pole position, leads every lap, sets the fastest lap, and wins the Sunday GRAND PRIX. Sprint results do not count toward this achievement.