Lights Out And Away We Gon't ❌ #Shorts

The 1999 European Grand Prix was set for the off, but an aborted start caused chaos on the grid!

Full context: Two drivers (Alex Zanardi and Marc Gene) lined up in the wrong spot on the grid, meaning another formation lap was required to set the grid. But before the start procedure was cancelled, six cars jumped the start!

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[deafeningoctopus]

If anyone's confused about what happened here, allow me to explain.

Back in the 1990s, the starting sequence was triggered by the race director pushing a button which sent a radio signal to the starting gantry. The lights would then hold for a pre-determined length of time, before going out and starting the race. The trouble was, the teams figured out that if they could intercept the radio signal as it was sent to the starting gantry then a computer could work out exactly when the button was pressed and therefore exactly when the lights would go out, and it would play a beep in the drivers' earphones right before the lights were set to go out, allowing the drivers to start perfectly.

On this particular occasion however, Alex Zanardi's car was out of position on the grid, and the start was aborted DURING the lighting sequence. As the button had already been pressed however, the beep still played in the ears of the drivers and they automatically leapt off the line, despite the race failing to start.

After that, the lights were made to stay on for a randomised length of time so the teams wouldn't know exactly when the race would start, and now it's up to the driver again to react to the lights going out.

EDIT: I know there is a popular theory that the FIA deliberately caused the lights to stay on to catch teams cheating, and this is definitely possible. However, since this has never been confirmed and since no-one was ever penalised, I decided to only include information that was confirmed or widely accepted. Please stop "Well ackshually"ing me.

[FerrarisMasterplan]

Teams: Yes we found a great idea to start the race.
Race director:Hold my lights

[bukharijabarazman]

When an honesty test looked like a Race Control Accident…

[sandalphoncpu]

Teams: exploited the light signals to get a perfect start
Race directors: imma bout to do what’s called a pro gamer move

[Thors_Garage]

When the officials exposed the entire field

[SmplYouTube]

Basically me and my friends when racing:
Three... Two... One... AND A HALF- 😂

[mertakel]

Drivers: Can we start now ?
FIA: yes, you cannot.

[farishanafiah]

I miss Murray Walker's voice. He's a true legend.

[NeishyAGTE]

Funny how it was all the top teams that knew when the light was supposed to go.

[chazmyster]

For context, the fia were becoming suspicious about some teams race starts. Some teams used a beep as soon as the lights would usually go out. This time the lights were kept on for longer and caught the teams using the beep.

[madkhaliqfarhan]

Back when Petronas was still considered a "village brand" within Malaysia's borders...

[sergeantnet]

AND IT'S LIGHTS OUT, AND WE'RE GOING NOWHERE! 😆

[bendingspring]

Murray Walker, the very enthusiastic & knowledgable voice of Sunday afternoon F1 on the BBC! Well before TV signals from space was a thing! Sorely missed.

[nadirkhan]

Lightsman: "hold... Hold... HOLD... HOLLDD!!!"

[iamgaijin]

jordan 199 probably the greatest car eddie jordan ever had

[jstewlly]

1999 Frentzen turned up second half after Michael got hurt he turned up!!! That Mugen Engine still one of my favs!!!!

[weallfollowmanutd]

This was no accident. This was later explained by an ex technical director that once worked for Ferrari and McLaren. He said the FIA decided to check which teams were using a sensor on the car electronics to be clever enough to sense sequence the lights went out. McLaren definitely were using it as you can see.

[champsgaming]

the race that started the randomize amount of time until the light go out.

[raysat]

They wanted to see which team exploited the timing of the lights. Certain teams always jumped perfect.

[DerptekofGoochland]

Dude in the black and white car really went "Eto....