Formula One Grand Prix
The race itself is held on Sunday afternoon (Sunday night in Singapore, Bahrain and Abu Dhabi). Thirty minutes before race time, the cars take to the track. They may run several warm-up laps if they wish. When they are ready, they line up on the starting grid in the order they qualified. At race time, a green turns on to start the formation lap. The formation lap is a slow lap around the circuit. The cars warm up the engines and tyres, and all systems are checked. The cars return to their assigned grid spot and stop. The start is called a standing start.