Okay, so today I wanted to figure out how long this whole “qualifying” thing lasts in Formula 1. I’ve been watching races for a while, but I never really paid close attention to the specifics of the qualifying sessions. So, I decided to dive in and, you know, actually learn something.
Getting Started
First, I grabbed my phone and Started to check some stuff. I wanted to get a good baseline understanding before I started timing anything myself. I found out that qualifying is split into three parts: Q1, Q2, and Q3.
The Deep Dive: Timing Each Session
- Q1: So, I set a timer and watched the first part. Turns out, Q1 goes on for 18 minutes. The slowest cars get knocked out after this.
- Q2: Next up was Q2. I reset my timer, The session lasted for 15 minutes. More cars get eliminated here, leaving only the top 10.
- Q3: Finally, there’s Q3, This one is the shortest,clocked in at 12 minutes. This is where the fastest drivers battle it out for pole position.
Putting It All Together
So, if you add all those up – 18 minutes for Q1, 15 for Q2, and 12 for Q3 – you get a total of 45 minutes, right?
Then I noticed there are short breaks between these sessions. So, I watched another qualifying session and paid super close attention.
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There’s a 7-minute break after Q1.
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There’s an 8-minute break after Q2.
Adding those breaks (7 + 8 = 15 minutes) to the total session time (45 minutes), I realized the whole qualifying process usually takes about an hour, give or take.
My Conclusion
So, there you have it! After a bit of watching, timing, and adding things up, I figured out that a typical F1 qualifying session, including those little breaks, lasts roughly an hour. It was actually pretty fun to break it down and see how it all works.
