Commentary moves fast and assumes you know the lingo. Keep this list handy and the jargon stops getting in the way.
On track
The language of racecraft and the racing surface:
- Dirty air — Turbulent wake behind a car that costs the one chasing grip in corners.
- Slipstream — The pocket of low drag behind a car that lets a follower carry more speed.
- Marbles — Bits of worn rubber off the racing line; slippery to drive on.
- Apex — The point a driver clips on the inside of a corner.
- Backmarker — A slower car about to be lapped by the leaders.
Strategy and tyres
The words that decide races off the track:
- Undercut — Pitting before a rival to use fresh-tyre pace and jump ahead.
- Overcut — Staying out longer than a rival to gain on older tyres in clear air.
- Stint — A run of laps on one set of tyres, between stops.
- Deg — Short for degradation, the loss of tyre grip over a stint.
- The cliff — The sudden point where a worn tyre stops working.
Car and session
Hardware and weekend terms in brief:
- Power unit — The full hybrid engine package, not just the V6.
- Parc fermé — The state from qualifying on where set-up is locked.
- Formation lap — The warm-up lap before the start that sets the grid.
- Out-lap — A lap leaving the pits, used to warm tyres and brakes.
- Pole position — First on the grid, earned by the fastest qualifying lap.