That blinking red light on an F1 car actually does something super important

F1 cars are the most advanced, four-wheeled machines on the planet – even the simple-looking blinking red light at the rear.

These 1,000bhp cars come with the most technologically developed features of any machinery in the world.

One of the more underrated aspects of an F1 car is the blinking red LED light at the back.

But it turns out that that blinking red light actually does something super important.

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F1 red light can spell danger

If you watch F1 on a regular basis, you will likely be familiar with the rear of the car.

Specifically, you will likely have seen the bright red LED lights in the middle of all the aero.

The blinking red light, in fact, serves two important functions on an F1 car.

Firstly, the red LED light is important for safety and visibility reasons.

In heavily raining/wet conditions, it quickly becomes hard to see the car in front.

The blinking red light serves as a beacon of visibility for all F1 cars on track.

Thankfully, the FIA takes safety features onboard F1 cars extremely seriously.

Its rules mandate that the blinking red light must be exactly 300mm above the reference plane.

It also has to be positioned straight back at a 90-degree angle.

Blinking red light warns others about KERS

Although safety is arguably the most important purpose of the blinking red light, it’s far from the only one.

With today’s hybrid powerplant F1 cars, the blinking red LED light kicks in when the car is harvesting energy.

To put it simply, Formula 1 cars have had Kinetic Energy Recovery Systems (KERS) since 2009.

F1 cars use KERS, specifically the Motor Generator Unit-Kinetic (MGU-K), to pull kinetic energy from braking.

The energy captured from the brakes is then converted to electrical energy to charge the battery.

The blinking red LED light then starts flashing to warn drivers behind that the car might slow down.

In a sport determined by milliseconds, that light can be the difference between a clean overtake and an enormous crash.

Next time you see the flashing red LED light, you will understand just how important it actually is.

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