Friday for F1 Driver

Practice starts very early on Friday morning, especially if the driver’s team has signed up for the extra two-hour test session. The driver usually gets to the track at about 8 a.m. (after having already spent maybe an hour in the hotel gym) and runs through the day’s programme with the team. (See the next section “Keeping Busy during Practice” to find out what goes on during these sessions.) The driver spends most of the rest of the day in practice and technical debriefs, when the team evaluates the set-up of the car and its performance. Afterward, he attends even more press conferences. Amidst all these other responsibilities, the driver completes the first qualifying round, which decides the running order for Saturday’s main qualifying session. In the evening, he usually attends another sponsor function, which can run on quite late.