Terms you hear on the radio

Box — the instruction to come into the pit lane. It is used instead of "pit" because it is far harder to mishear over team radio.

Delta — a target time a driver must stay within, typically under a safety car or in a virtual safety car period.

Undercut — pitting earlier than a rival so that fresh tyres let you pass them on track when they stop. The opposite is the overcut: staying out longer to build a gap.

Terms about the car

DRS — the drag reduction system, a movable rear wing flap that can be opened in designated zones when within one second of the car ahead, making overtaking possible on long straights.

Degradation — the gradual loss of tyre performance across a stint. It is different from wear: a tyre can look intact and still be seconds a lap slower.

Terms about the weekend

Parc fermé — the condition from qualifying onwards in which teams may no longer change the car's setup. It is why a mistake in qualifying cannot simply be engineered away before the race.

Formation lap — the lap before the start, used to warm tyres and brakes. Watching the cars weave here is not showmanship; it is temperature management.