F1 Reaction Test
Five red lights come on one by one. When they all go out, click, tap or press Space. Your start time is shown to a thousandth of a second, like the timing screens.
- Five-light start sequence
- Random lights out
- Jump start detection
- Times to 0.001 s
Your times against the average
Dots are your attempts, the solid line is your median and the curve shows the usual spread of online scores.
Your history on this device
Finished rounds appear here with your personal best. They are stored only in this browser and never sent anywhere.
What is the F1 reaction test?
It recreates a Formula 1 race start. Five pairs of red lights come on at one-second intervals. After the fifth there is a random pause, then all the lights go out together, and that is the moment to go. The test measures the time from the frame where the lights disappear from your screen to your click, tap or key press, and shows it in seconds to three decimal places. Pressing while any light is still on is a jump start and does not count. Because the lights go out after an unpredictable pause, you cannot time the start by counting, which is exactly what makes real starts hard.
How to do an F1 start reaction test
- Click or tap the start lights, or press Space. The first red light comes on a second later.
- Watch the lights come on one per second until all five are lit.
- Stay still. After a random pause of 0.5 to 3 seconds all five lights go out.
- Press the moment they go out. Your start time appears in seconds, for example 0.231 s.
- Do five starts to get your median and best start. Your sessions are saved on this device.
Why practise starts here
- The real start sequenceFive lights at one-second intervals and a random hold, with all lights going out at once on the same frame.
- Jump start detectionAny press before lights out is flagged and not counted, so your best start is a clean one.
- Timing to the frameThe clock starts on the frame where the lights disappear from your screen, not when the page asks for it.
- Your history stays on this deviceEvery session is saved in this browser with your personal best. No account, nothing sent to a server, and one button clears it.
Who uses the F1 reaction test
- Sim racers. Sharpen starts before an online race and compare wheel buttons with a keyboard.
- Race day with friends. Take turns before the Grand Prix and see who would get the holeshot.
- Karting drivers. Practise reacting to lights going out rather than to a green light.
- STEM lessons. A fun way into reaction time, anticipation and why random holds matter.
F1 reaction test scores
At a real start, five red lights come on one per second and then go out together after a short random hold. Drivers watch the lights, not the cars, so the start is a pure visual reaction. Use this table to read your median start.
| Median start | Rating | What it means |
|---|---|---|
| Under 0.200 s | F1 driver pace | As quick as the figure usually quoted for drivers, even with your screen delay included |
| 0.200 to 0.249 s | Quick getaway | Well above average on a screen |
| 0.250 to 0.299 s | Average start | Where most people land, close to a normal reaction time test |
| 0.300 s or more | Slow getaway | Often hesitation, a slow touchscreen or watching the wrong light |
Tip: look at the middle of the gantry rather than one light, keep your finger resting on the button, and do not try to guess the hold. Guesses show up as jump starts, and a start under 0.100 s is treated as a guess too.
What your score includes
Your result is the time from the frame that shows the change on your screen to the moment your device registers the press. The test makes the change inside requestAnimationFrame and starts the clock at the timestamp of the next frame, which is when the changed frame is handed to the display. The stop time is the timestamp your device stamped on the click, tap or key press, so page scripts, ads and rendering do not add to your time. That is also why scores here can be about one frame lower than on tests that start the clock when the change is requested.
| Part of the chain | Typical delay | How to reduce it |
|---|---|---|
| Screen refresh | Up to one frame: 16.7 ms at 60 Hz, 6.9 ms at 144 Hz, 4.2 ms at 240 Hz | Use a high refresh rate display |
| Monitor or TV processing | A few ms on most monitors, often much more on TVs outside game mode | Turn on game mode or low latency mode |
| Mouse | 1 ms at 1000 Hz polling, up to 8 ms at 125 Hz | A wired or gaming wireless mouse |
| Touchscreen | Often tens of milliseconds | Compare scores on the same device |
| Keyboard | A few ms on gaming keyboards, more on some laptop keyboards | Use the same input every time |
| Browser and page | Removed by the timestamps described above | Nothing to do |
Example: how quick is your start?
Say your five starts are 0.244, 0.229, 0.261, 0.218 and 0.237 s. Your median start is 0.237 s and your best is 0.218 s. F1 drivers are usually quoted at about 0.2 seconds from lights out, and that figure includes the clutch and the car, so a 0.218 s start on a screen is genuinely quick. Went while a light was still on? That start is a jump start and you redo it.
What to expect from the result
Your time includes your screen and input delay, which a driver in the car does not have, while a driver's figure includes the clutch and the car, which yours does not. Treat the comparison as a fun guide rather than a like-for-like contest. Here the pause before lights out is random between 0.5 and 3 seconds so you cannot learn it; in a real race the hold is also varied so drivers cannot anticipate it.
F1 reaction test FAQ
What is a good F1 reaction time?
On a screen, under 0.200 s is F1 driver pace, 0.200 to 0.250 s is a quick getaway and 0.250 to 0.300 s is typical. Most people score close to their normal reaction time test result, because lights out is also a simple visual reaction.
What is the average F1 driver reaction time?
Drivers are generally quoted at about 0.2 seconds from the lights going out, and McLaren puts a typical race start reaction at between 0.2 and 0.3 seconds once the car is included. A great launch is not only about reaction time: wheelspin or a bogged clutch costs more than a few hundredths.
What counts as a jump start?
Pressing while any red light is still lit. In this test that start is not counted and you go again. In a real race, sensors detect a car moving before lights out and the driver is penalised.
How long is the pause before the lights go out?
Each light comes on one second after the one before. After the fifth, this test waits a random 0.5 to 3 seconds before lights out, so counting does not help. The wait is drawn so that the chance of lights out stays about the same from one moment to the next.
Can I use the keyboard or a touchscreen?
Yes. Space and Enter work, and so do mouse clicks and taps. Use the same input each time you compare scores, because a touchscreen usually reports a tap later than a mouse reports a click.
Are my results saved or sent anywhere?
Your results are saved only in this browser, so you can see your history and personal best next time. Nothing is sent to a server, there is no account, and you can clear the history at any time.
More reaction and input tests
Try the reaction time test, audio reaction time test, ruler drop test or driving reaction time test. To check the hardware behind your score, run the refresh rate test, mouse test or keyboard test, or see how fast you can click with the CPS test. All of them are in the device tests collection.