Motorsport, explained.

Le Mans runs several classes at once — the top prototype Hypercar class fighting for overall victory, the LMP2 prototypes, and a production-based GT class (currently LMGT3) — all sharing the track.

F1 is a global championship where each team builds its own car and races mostly on road and street circuits; IndyCar is a US-based series using a spec car and racing on a mix of ovals, road courses and street tracks.

F1 is the pinnacle with bespoke cars built by each team; F2 and F3 are the FIA's spec-car feeder championships that form the final rungs of the ladder to Formula 1.

They are the three classes of the Grand Prix motorcycle world championship — Moto3 (small entry-level bikes), Moto2 (spec middleweight machines) and MotoGP (the fastest, prototype class).

In rally, crews of a driver and co-driver race one at a time against the clock over timed 'special stages' on closed public roads — gravel, tarmac, snow and ice — with the lowest cumulative time winning.

F1 awards points to the top ten finishers on a 25-18-15-12-10-8-6-4-2-1 scale, with a separate smaller scale for Sprint races, counting toward both the Drivers' and Constructors' championships.

Most professional drivers start young in karting, move into junior single-seaters or national categories, and climb the ladder while earning results, racing licences, funding and — for F1 — superlicence points.

The main types of motorsport are open-wheel (F1, IndyCar), sports car and endurance racing, GT racing, motorcycle Grand Prix, rally, and stock-car/oval racing.

A team principal is the boss of a racing team — responsible for its overall leadership, results, budget and people, from strategy calls on the pit wall to hiring drivers and setting the team's direction.

The FIA superlicence is the mandatory permit to race in Formula 1. Drivers must be at least 18, hold a road licence, and earn 40 superlicence points over three seasons of junior racing.