F1 qualifying in brief: three knockout sessions that set the Grand Prix grid. In 2026, with 22 cars, Q1 lasts 18 minutes and eliminates the slowest six, Q2 lasts 15 minutes and eliminates another six, and Q3 lasts 13 minutes and sets the top ten places: pole goes to the fastest time. At the six Sprint weekends of 2026 there is also Friday’s Sprint Qualifying, with SQ1 of 12, SQ2 of 10 and SQ3 of 8 minutes.
Updated in October 2026.
In Montréal in June 2024, George Russell and Max Verstappen ended Q3 with exactly the same time, 1:12.000. Pole went to Russell because he had set it first: since F1 began timing to the thousandth of a second, it was only the second time a pole had been decided that way (Formula1.com). Qualifying is all in there: three sessions, a few minutes and no margin.
Formula 1 qualifying in brief
- Q1 of 18 minutes (positions 17 to 22 out), Q2 of 15 minutes (11th to 16th out), Q3 of 13 minutes for the top ten places.
- From 2026 the grid has 22 cars with Cadillac’s arrival: six drivers are eliminated in Q1 and Q2 instead of five, and Q3 went from 12 to 13 minutes.
- At the six Sprint weekends Friday’s Sprint Qualifying (12, 10 and 8 minutes) sets the grid for Saturday’s 100 km Sprint.
- If times are tied, whoever set it first wins; to start the race a driver must be within 107% of the fastest Q1 time.
The qualifying format in 2026
Qualifying takes place on Saturday afternoon of a standard weekend and is divided into three knockout sessions:
- Q1, 18 minutes: all 22 cars take part; drivers from 17th to 22nd are eliminated and start from those positions.
- Q2, 15 minutes: 16 drivers remain; from 11th to 16th are eliminated.
- Q3, 13 minutes: the remaining 10 fight for pole position and the top ten places on the grid.
There is a seven-minute break between sessions, for one hour in total (PlanetF1). The Q3 result sets the grid for Sunday’s Grand Prix.
What changes in 2026
Until 2025 the grid had 20 cars: five drivers were eliminated in Q1 and Q2 and Q3 lasted 12 minutes. With Cadillac joining as the eleventh team there are 22 cars, and the 2026 regulations provide for six eliminations in Q1 and Q2, so that ten drivers still reach Q3. On 28 February 2026 the FIA then extended Q3 from 12 to 13 minutes: in 2025 teams had got into the habit of queuing cars at the end of the pit lane in the final minutes and drivers had complained about traffic, and an extra minute gives more time to complete a lap. To compensate, the break between Q2 and Q3 went from eight to seven minutes (PlanetF1).
Pole position and tied times
Pole position is first place on the grid and goes to the fastest driver in Q3. If two drivers set the same time, whoever set it first wins: that was the case of Russell over Verstappen in Montréal 2024, when both did 1:12.000 and third-placed Lando Norris was 0.021 seconds away (Formula1.com).
The 107% rule
Introduced in 1996, the 107% rule requires a driver to set a Q1 time within 107% of the fastest to be allowed to start the race. It does not apply on a wet track, and the stewards can grant an exception, for example if the driver showed good pace in practice (GPFans).
The standard weekend
The standard weekend has three one-hour free practice sessions (FP1 and FP2 on Friday, FP3 on Saturday morning), qualifying on Saturday afternoon and the Grand Prix on Sunday. In the Grand Prix points go to the top ten: 25, 18, 15, 12, 10, 8, 6, 4, 2 and 1 (Wikipedia).
Tyres in qualifying
In 2026 Pirelli has five dry compounds, from C1 (the hardest) to C5 (the softest): the C6 introduced in 2025 has been dropped, and the tyres are narrower, 25 mm at the front and 30 mm at the rear (Motorsport.com). Each weekend the compound is shown by the colour on the sidewall: white for hard, yellow for medium, red for soft, green for intermediates and blue for full wets (Racer). At standard weekends each driver has 13 sets of dry tyres available.
The 2026 Sprint weekend
At the six Sprint weekends the programme changes:
- Friday: one-hour free practice and Sprint Qualifying (SQ1 of 12 minutes, SQ2 of 10, SQ3 of 8; six drivers eliminated in SQ1 and SQ2; new medium tyres mandatory in SQ1 and SQ2, softs in SQ3).
- Saturday: a 100 km Sprint, about a third of a Grand Prix, with no mandatory pit stop and free tyre choice; in the afternoon, Grand Prix qualifying.
- Sunday: the Grand Prix.
The Sprint awards points to the top eight (8, 7, 6, 5, 4, 3, 2 and 1, 36 in all) but does not set Sunday’s grid. In 2026 cars stay in parc fermé from their first exit from the pit lane in Sprint Qualifying until the start of the Sprint; then teams may change the set-up before Grand Prix qualifying, when parc fermé resumes. The Sprint weekends are Shanghai (13-15 March), Miami (1-3 May), Montréal (22-24 May), Silverstone (3-5 July), Zandvoort (21-23 August) and Singapore (9-11 October), the next on the calendar. For the full format there is the guide on how the F1 Sprint works.
From Sprint Shootout to Sprint Qualifying
The Sprint began as an experiment in 2021 at three circuits and until 2022 it set the Sunday grid. From 2023 it became a race in its own right, with a dedicated qualifying session, the Sprint Shootout, renamed Sprint Qualifying from 2024. In 2024 the programme was reordered: sprint qualifying on Friday afternoon, the Sprint on Saturday and then Grand Prix qualifying (Wikipedia, ESPN).
Why Sprint weekends matter to sponsors
A Sprint weekend brings four competitive sessions, Sprint Qualifying, the Sprint, qualifying and the Grand Prix, instead of two. According to Formula1.com, in 2024 Sprint weekends averaged 10% more viewers than standard weekends. For anyone weighing an entry, the guide on the cost of a Formula 1 sponsorship and the page on Formula 1 sponsorship are the starting point.
F1 qualifying is three sessions, a few minutes and one simple rule: the fastest wins and, if tied, whoever was fastest first.
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Sources: Formula1.com, Russell on pole in Montréal with the same time as Verstappen; Motorsport.com, the 2026 qualifying format with Cadillac; PlanetF1, the FIA extends Q3 in 2026; GPFans, the 107% rule in 2026; Wikipedia, the Formula 1 race weekend; Wikipedia, the Formula 1 Sprint; Formula1.com, the 2026 Sprint calendar; McLaren, guide to the 2026 Sprint format; Sky Sports, the F1 Sprint in 2026; Motorsport.com, Pirelli’s 2026 compounds; Racer, F1 tyre colours; ESPN, the Sprint format changes in 2024.
Frequently asked questions
How does F1 qualifying work in 2026?
It is three knockout sessions: Q1 of 18 minutes (six drivers out), Q2 of 15 minutes (another six out) and Q3 of 13 minutes for the top ten places. Pole goes to the fastest driver in Q3 and the Grand Prix grid follows the order of times.
How long does F1 qualifying last?
Q1 lasts 18 minutes, Q2 15 and Q3 13 (it was 12 before 2026), with seven-minute breaks, for one hour in all. At Sprint weekends Sprint Qualifying lasts 12 minutes in SQ1, 10 in SQ2 and 8 in SQ3.
How many drivers are eliminated in Q1 and Q2?
In 2026, with 22 cars, six in Q1 (17th to 22nd) and six in Q2 (11th to 16th). Before 2026, with 20 cars, five were eliminated per session.
What is Sprint Qualifying?
It is the qualifying that sets the grid for the 100 km Sprint at Sprint weekends. It takes place on Friday, after practice, in three parts of 12, 10 and 8 minutes. Until 2023 it was called Sprint Shootout.
What happens if two drivers set the same time?
Whoever set that time first wins. It happened in Montréal in 2024: Russell and Verstappen both did 1:12.000 in Q3 and pole went to Russell.
What is the 107% rule?
To start the race a driver must set a Q1 time within 107% of the fastest. It does not apply on a wet track and the stewards can grant an exception.
