Qualifying is traditionally contested on the Saturday (Friday for some events) of a Grand Prix weekend to determine the drivers' positions on the starting grid of the race held on the Sunday (although across 2021 and 2022, in a small number of the events, so-called sprint races were held, which determined the starting grid of the race on Sunday. In 2021, the winner of the sprint was credited with pole position. In 2022 the pole-sitter of the sprint race was officially awarded the pole position in those events. Since 2023, sprint races have been held at select events, these have had their own qualifying session, the polesitter for these races is not credited with a pole position.) Historically, there have been a number of different qualifying systems; previously, each driver was only allowed a single lap to set his qualifying time.[6] Drivers currently have to compete in three rounds before pole position is determined. The first round, known as Q1, is contested by twenty drivers in an 18-minute session, at the end of which the five slowest cars are eliminated. This is followed by Q2, a 15-minute session, where the slowest five are again eliminated. The remaining ten cars contest Q3, the final 12-minute session, to determine their places on the grid and who will sit on pole position.[7]
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