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F1 Nation

F1 Explains: The Grid – what happens before lights out?

Oct 15, 2026 · 41m

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Packed with drivers, cars, team personnel, media, celebrities and more, their voices drowned out by the noise of passionate fans in the grandstands and engineers at work, the Formula 1 grid before a race start is probably the most exciting, chaotic and loudest places to be in all sport. But what actually happens on the grid before lights out? How are the drivers preparing in those final moments before going into battle? What work is being done on the cars? Christian Hewgill and Molly Hudson, F1 correspondent for UK newspaper The Times, are together on the grid before this year’s F1 Sprint race in Zandvoort to answer those questions and explain the rules everyone has to follow on the grid.…