The start can make or break a race in a few seconds. Twenty-two cars launch together into the first corner, and the order at the end of lap one often looks nothing like the grid.
Formation lap
Before the race the field completes a formation lap to warm tyres and brakes, then reassembles on the grid in qualifying order. Anyone who cannot hold position or stalls must start from the back or the pit lane.
Lights out
Five red lights come on one by one, and the race begins the instant they all go out. The gap before they extinguish is deliberately variable, so no driver can time it; they react. A clean getaway is about clutch control and traction off the line.
Jumping the start
Sensors watch each car. Move before the lights go out and the stewards issue a penalty, usually five seconds. The first braking zone into turn one is the biggest overtaking chance of the race, when cars are bunched and tyres are cold (see overtaking).