Strategy
F1 strategy mistakes: 4 pit-wall calls that cost 3 wins and a title
Monaco 2015, Silverstone 2022, Sochi 2021 and Abu Dhabi 2010: 4 pit-wall calls that cost 3 wins and a title. Only Monaco was a maths error.
7 min read · 10:12 video
The Second Grid
F1 history, rules and strategy, told as arguments.
Each episode takes one thing F1 fans say and checks it against the rulebook, the results and what the people involved said at the time. Every episode is written up here, with its sources.
Latest episode · 8 October 2026
The pit lane at Indianapolis on 18 June 2005, the weekend of the US Grand Prix. Photo: RickDikeman, CC0, via Wikimedia Commons; colour-graded and cropped by The Second Grid.
Why only 6 cars raced the 2005 US Grand Prix, and F1’s other worst rules
From Kyalami 1982 to Indianapolis 2005: 5 Formula 1 rule changes that backfired, ranked by what they cost before they were reversed. The worst kept F1 out of the United States for 4 years.
Articles
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History
6 F1 what-ifs, and why 3 of them lead back to one factory in Brackley
Hamilton’s signature, Brawn’s £1 team, Rosberg’s 5 days, Verstappen’s promotion, 1 point in 2007 and Imola 1994. Half of them lead back to the same building in Brackley.
7 min read · 12:15 video
Business
The F1 budget cap is now $215m. Here’s why it isn’t a raise
Formula 1’s cost cap rises from $135m to $215m for 2026. By the FIA’s own account, the extra $80m covers inflation and costs that used to sit outside the cap. It isn’t new money to spend.
5 min read · 10:29 video
Drivers
Charles Leclerc’s Ferrari gamble: why he signed again after 7 seasons without a title
Charles Leclerc signed with Ferrari again on 3 June 2026, after 7 seasons without a title. He crashed out at Monaco 4 days later and won Silverstone a month after that.
5 min read · 14:09 video
Business
How much does it cost to reach F1? A ladder that bills you for winning
Winning Formula 3 pays €300,000. The Formula 2 season it has to be spent on costs €2–3 million, and the Super Licence points table means skipping that season is not an option.
6 min read · 18:16 video
History
Ayrton Senna’s first F1 win: Estoril 1985, and only Alboreto on the lead lap
His 17th Grand Prix, run in standing water: pole by 0.413 s, every lap led, the fastest lap, and a winning margin of 1:02.978. Only Michele Alboreto finished on the same lap.
4 min read · 9:54 video
Rules & Tech
F1 wind tunnel testing restrictions: why the champion gets the least tunnel time
Formula 1’s champion gets 70% of the baseline wind tunnel allowance; the team that finishes last gets 115%. How the sliding scale works, and what happened when Red Bull’s allowance was cut even further.
5 min read · 8:47 video
Drivers
F1 drivers who never won again: 8 last wins, and the contracts signed first
Jean Alesi started 201 Grands Prix and won once. Seven other careers follow the same pattern: the last win came shortly after the driver picked a team for something other than the car.
7 min read · 11:28 video
Business
F1 logistics: how 1,200 tonnes of kit reaches the next race in 14 days
Up to 1,200 tonnes of equipment leaves every Formula 1 race weekend, and it has 14 days to be rebuilt on another continent. Most of the garage never makes that trip. It went by sea months earlier.
5 min read · 8:28 video
Shorts — open on YouTube
All explainers
Rules
Why F1 banned refuelling (it wasn’t the fires) (Short, opens on YouTube)
Technology
The F-duct: McLaren’s knee-powered trick (Short, opens on YouTube)
Technology
Mercedes’ dual-axis steering: the wheel that moved (Short, opens on YouTube)
Technology
F1’s ugliest part holds 12 tonnes (Short, opens on YouTube)
Rules
The message that killed F1’s team-orders ban (Short, opens on YouTube)
Rules
The 9 kg weight F1 banned as an aerodynamic device (Short, opens on YouTube)
History
The fan car won its only race, and was never actually banned (Short, opens on YouTube)
History
Schumacher won in the pit lane (Short, opens on YouTube)
History
Räikkönen won 2007 by one point. McLaren lost $100m first (Short, opens on YouTube)
History
The £1 team that won both championships (Short, opens on YouTube)
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Every claim traces to a filed document, a ruling or a named report, and every article lists its sources, primary documents first. When we get something wrong, the correction goes on the record.