In Formula 1, free practice sessions are held before the qualification and race and are an opportunity for the teams to test and refine their car setup, and for the drivers to get familiar with the track. The goal of free practice is to find the optimal balance of performance and tire wear, test new components, and gather data. During the sessions, teams can run as many laps as they want and make various changes to their cars setup. The lap times set during the free practice sessions do not count towards the official classification of the race.
In each race weekend, there are three free practice sessions. The first session is held on Friday morning and is typically used to get used to the track and verify the initial setup from the simulators. The second session is held on Friday afternoon, and further work is done to refine qualifying and race setup. The third and final session is held on Saturday morning, and further work is done to refine qualifying and race setup. All sessions last for one hour.
The term "free" in free practice refers to the fact that attending a free practice session is not mandatory, and the drivers have to take part in at least one practice session to be allowed to start the race. The recorded lap times have no influence on the starting positions for the upcoming race.
