Why dont f1 cars have brake lights

Have you ever wondered why F1 cars don't have brake lights? Here is the reason why not.

If you think about it, it makes perfect sense to have brake lights fitted to F1 cars. We want them to signal a warning to the drivers behind that they're slowing down, thus further avoid accidents. Right?

Well, in reality, F1 drivers are amongst the top racing drivers in the world, and each of them know their seasonal racetracks like the back of their hands. They know exactly where the brake markers are in order to put in the best lap times possible.

Each driver pretty much hits the braking point identically on every turn, so having brake lights will essentially be more of a distraction to the drivers than anything else.

You might be wondering why there are red LED lights at the back of an F1 car though. In a sense, it's similar to a brake light, but they are there to warn the drivers behind that your car is in energy-saving mode and therefore be driving slower than usual.

Take a look at the video below by YouTube channel, WTF1, on Why Don't F1 Cars Have Brake Lights.

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Do formula 1 cars have brake lights? Is this something you have ever wondered about as an F1 fan?

I know this is intriguing to you and millions of other people.

If you own a car, you know it has brake lights. If you do not have your own car yet, it is possible you are aware and have seen brake lights on other road cars.

But, do F1 cars have lights and have you seen them on the track?

Brake lights are an important part of driving experience. They are a safety feature and a tool of courtesy to other drivers when you are on the road.

When illuminated, brake lights indicate your car is slowing down or has stopped.

This gives other drivers enough time to stop or take evasive action. You can argue that brake lights also stop cars from crashing into each other on the road.

Does this work in formula one? Do formula 1 cars have brake lights?

In this article, you will learn whether formula one cars have brake lights. You will understand what the lights that flash or light up at the back do or what they mean in F1 racing.

In simple terms, formula one cars do not have brake lights.

However, I would like to point out that F1 cars have or use a hydraulic braking system. It is just that formula one cars do not have brake lights as you would expect on road cars.

The reason why F1 cars do not have brake lights is that it would be pointless to install brake lights.

Brake lights are used to alert other road users behind a car. This is very useful on the normal roads.

However, formula one cars only race at dedicated tracks or circuits. The tracks are designed to allow for top speeds on the straights and sometimes on corners as well.

In this regard, it would be redundant to have brake lights on an F1 car. Already, the drivers behind can see when the car in front is harvesting, as it flashes lights at the back.

Read More: What Does Harvesting Mean in F1?

Already, there are breaking points on the track that indicate when or where a driver should slam on the brakes.

Conclusion

In conclusion, formula one cars have a hydraulic braking system that works well during racing.

However, the cars do not have brake lights.

You might expect that every car should have brake light, and you would be right to have such expectations.

Formula 1 cars are not ‘normal’ cars. They are not used on roads as you would use your normal car.

They are used to tracks specially designed for them.

While brake lights are important in alerting the drivers behind that the car is slowing down, it would be redundant in F1.

F1 cars are looking for every space to reduce weight of the car and improve aerodynamic performance.

Since the lights do not serve any purpose in racing, F1 cars do not have brake lights.

Braking lights not do any good. In fact, some argue that they would be a dangerous distraction.

By the time a trailing F1 driver sees and reacts to braking lights, he would have rammed his car into the car in front of him.

At the moment, F1 does not have a mechanism that would elicit a human driver’s reaction in time to take any evasive action based on braking lights, including braking as well.

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Why dont f1 cars have brake lights

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Formula 1 , Videos , WTF1

Posted on January 22, 2021 | by Katy Fairman

Posted on January 22, 2021 | by Katy Fairman

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It's not illegal, it's not a flashing light.

Why do the brake lights flash on F1 cars?

It is a safety feature. The regulations state that when the driver is conserving fuel, the light at the rear of the car must blink. It is kind of a warning for the other drivers, if the driver is slowing down at the end of the straight. The driver is slowing down, but not really braking down.

Why do F1 cars not have closed cockpits?

F1 cars don't have closed cockpits as the open-wheel nature of the sport is one of the reasons it's so famous. F1 tries to stick as close to tradition as they possibly can, and using closed cockpits would stray too far from the open-wheel DNA of Formula 1, which is an important part of the sport.