Formula 1 Fundamentals

The Formula 1 API is stage-based: every level of the sport, from the championship down to a single lap, is modeled as a stage, and you move between levels by changing one path parameter, the stage ID. The rest of this guide builds on the stage hierarchy, so start here.

The Stage Hierarchy

A stage can contain sub-stages, which can contain their own sub-stages. Each level nests inside the one above, and the chips on the right are the type values you branch on:

Every node in this hierarchy is a stage with its own sr:stage: ID, and the Stage Summary feed reads any of them by that ID; the level you get back depends on the ID you pass:

Stage Types

The full table with definitions lives in the Stage Types reference.

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Probabilities Apply Only to Some Stages

Win probabilities are returned for the season, event, and race stages only. The sport, practice, qualifying, and lap stages do not return valid probability data. See Retrieving Race Probabilities.

Where to Start: Seasons

The starting point for any integration is the Seasons feed. It returns every covered season as a season stage. Note the id of the season you want and use it as the stage ID for the next call.

{
  "generated_at": "2026-06-13T05:05:04+00:00",
  "schema": "https://schemas.sportradar.com/sportsapi/formula1/v2/schemas/seasons.json",
  "stages": [
    {
      "id": "sr:stage:1285547",
      "description": "Formula 1 2026",
      "scheduled": "2026-03-06T01:30:00+00:00",
      "scheduled_end": "2026-12-06T15:00:00+00:00",
      "type": "season",
      "category": { "id": "sr:category:36", "name": "Formula 1" },
      "sport": { "id": "sr:sport:40", "name": "Formula 1" },
      "single_event": false
    },
    {
      "id": "sr:stage:1189123",
      "description": "Formula 1 2025",
      "scheduled": "2025-03-14T01:35:00+00:00",
      "scheduled_end": "2025-12-07T15:00:00+00:00",
      "type": "season",
      "category": { "id": "sr:category:36", "name": "Formula 1" },
      "sport": { "id": "sr:sport:40", "name": "Formula 1" },
      "single_event": false,
      "gender": "men"
    }
  ]
}

The list above is trimmed to two seasons; the live feed returns the full list of available seasons. See Historical Data for working with past seasons.

Drilling Into the Tree

Passing a season stage ID to Stage Schedule returns that season's events, each with its sessions nested inside, each with its own stage ID. The excerpt below shows one event (the 2025 Australian Grand Prix) with its practice, qualifying (and its three parts), and race sessions:

{
  "stages": [
    {
      "id": "sr:stage:1189125",
      "description": "Australian Grand Prix 2025",
      "type": "event",
      "status": "Closed",
      "unique_stage_id": "sr:stage_unique:1",
      "venue": {
        "id": "sr:venue:1011",
        "name": "Albert Park Circuit",
        "city": "Melbourne",
        "country": "Australia",
        "length": 5278,
        "timezone": "Australia/Melbourne"
      },
      "stages": [
        { "id": "sr:stage:1189127", "description": "Practice 1", "type": "practice", "status": "Closed" },
        { "id": "sr:stage:1189129", "description": "Practice 2", "type": "practice", "status": "Closed" },
        { "id": "sr:stage:1189131", "description": "Practice 3", "type": "practice", "status": "Closed" },
        {
          "id": "sr:stage:1189133",
          "description": "Qualification",
          "type": "qualifying",
          "status": "Closed",
          "stages": [
            { "id": "sr:stage:1189141", "description": "Q1", "type": "qualifying_part" },
            { "id": "sr:stage:1189143", "description": "Q2", "type": "qualifying_part" },
            { "id": "sr:stage:1189145", "description": "Q3", "type": "qualifying_part" }
          ]
        },
        { "id": "sr:stage:1189139", "description": "Race", "type": "race", "status": "Closed" }
      ]
    }
  ]
}

Each venue object is trimmed above; the live feed also returns capacity, coordinates, lap count, corner counts, and the official website. To read the result of any node, pass its id to Stage Summary. See Pulling Schedules.

Knowing Which Stage You Are On

Every stage carries a type attribute that tells you what you are looking at. Branch on type rather than on the description text, which is localized:

• season responses carry competitors (drivers) and teams (constructors) with championship result objects.
• race and sprint_race responses carry a competitors list with finishing results and a nested stages list of lap stages.
• lap responses carry the running order at that lap.

The Shared result Object

Across stage types, each competitor's per-stage data lives in a result object. The same object is reused for every stage type, but only the fields meaningful to that stage are populated, so always check the stage type before interpreting a result. For example:

• In a race result you get position, points, grid, time, gap_to_leader, interval_to_position_ahead, laps, lapsled, pitstop_count, fastest_lap_time, status, and substatus.
• In a season (standings) result you get championship aggregates: points, position, victories, podiums, polepositions, fastest_laps, races, races_with_points, and car_number.
• In a lap result you get only the running-order fields: position, gap_to_leader, interval_to_position_ahead, status, and substatus.

The Statistics Summary reference lists exactly which fields each stage type returns.

Concept-to-Feed Map

Next Steps

• Learn how stages move through their lifecycle in Race Status Workflow.
• Learn the ID model in depth in ID Handling.
• Jump to a worked example from the Integration Scenarios landing page.