Rain lights coming on briefly

[eybic]

I've googled it but nothing came up.

Why do the rain lights come on sometimes very briefly when it's not raining? I've noticed it a few times and wasn't sure if it was when they were passing the DRS pick up point or something as one car will go past, lights flash then off, then another doing the same thing but then the next one wont. The track isn't wet and it isn't raining.

They literally come on for a second or so then off again.

Hopefully that makes sense

Thanks

Nathan

[Daniel1]

they mentioned in commentary that it signals that theyre harnessing energy

[LandR]

They explained this during the last race, it means the car is harvesting energy and that affects the performance. So the rain flashes to let the driver behind know the car in front might end up slowing down (I guess really slightly) while it does its energy harvesting. It flashes as this reduction in performance isn't related to the driver lifting the throttle, it's outside the drivers control.

[eybic]

Brilliant, thank you very much

[Daston]

So it's almost like a "I may slow down so if you want to pass now's your chance" indicator.

[Jasandjules]

Daston said:

So it's almost like a "I may slow down so if you want to pass now's your chance" indicator.

That is how I saw it too.

A kind of "if you are going to dive up the inside, now is the time to try it"..

[John D.]

I thought it was the opposite. Not harnessing energy but no longer discharging ERS or KERS. Light flashes to warn car behind that car ahead may cease accelerating as hard. That's why it tends to flash briefly at the end of a straight before the braking zone as all stored energy has been used up.

[NotStig]

My understanding is that they have lifted early at the end of the straight (maybe saving fuel?), and the car has started to harvest energy which may mean the car could slow more than a following car expects. It's a kind of hazard warning light or brake light, giving any car stuffed right under the wing a chance to avoid a big accident.

[rdjohn]

I can’t find the FIA reg now, but I am pretty certain that the commentators were wrong.

It indicates to the driver behind that the torque output (KERS in old money) of the car is changing; either increasing, or decreasing. MGU-K harvesting only occurs under braking / lift off, and MGU-H is harvesting all the time when the ICE is producing power.

When I saw the cars testing at Jerez, these lights were flashing all the time, braking, accelerating and gear changes. I suppose that developing and finessing the software that controls the various bit of the power unit now means that they now only flash occasionally.

[Walford]

Lift and cruise, or coast or as the italian guy said "Taxi driver mode"