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F1 Reaction Time Test

Five red lights, then lights out. Can you react like a Formula 1 driver at the start?

Type
Speed
Takes
about 1 min
Result in
milliseconds

F1 Reaction

~1 min

  1. Five red lights come on, one a second.
  2. When they all go out, click, tap or press Space as fast as you can.
  3. Go before they go out and it's a jump start: that round runs again. 5 rounds.

The wait after the fifth light is random, between 0.2 and 3 seconds.

Your result: — ms

How it's measured

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How does the F1 reaction time test work?

It copies a Formula 1 start. Five red lights come on one at a time, a second apart. After the fifth there is a pause, and then all five go out together: that is the moment to react. Click, tap or press Space as fast as you can. The pause here is random, anywhere from 0.2 to 3 seconds, so you can't time it by counting. There are 5 starts.

What is a jump start?

Reacting before the lights go out. In a race it earns a penalty; here that start doesn't count and you line up again, and the number of jump starts is shown with your result. The random pause is what makes guessing risky: a driver who anticipates the lights instead of reacting to them is gambling.

How is your result calculated?

Each start is timed from the frame in which the lights go dark to the moment your press arrives, using the timestamp your browser gives the press. Your result is the average of your 5 clean starts, with your best one beside it.

Is it different from a normal reaction time test?

A little. In the Reaction Time Test the screen changes colour; here the lights go out, and the build-up of five lights tempts you to anticipate. The typical result on Human Benchmark's simple reaction test, about 273 ms, is a fair guide for this one too, though screens and devices add their own delay.

  • Watch all five lights, not the last one. They all go out together, so any of them will do.
  • Don't predict. A guess that comes too early costs you the round.
  • Use the same device each time if you want to compare results.

Questions

What is a good F1 reaction time?
There is no official figure for drivers to compare with. As a guide, the typical result on a simple online reaction test is about 273 ms (Human Benchmark's median).
Why do the lights go out after a random wait?
So nobody can time the start by counting. If the pause were always the same, the test would measure rhythm, not reaction.
What happens if I press too early?
It's a jump start: that round doesn't count and runs again. The number of jump starts is shown with your result.
Is click, tap or Space fastest?
It depends on the device. Keyboards and mice add a few milliseconds of their own, and touchscreens often add more, so compare results on the same device.