Blink and you’ll miss them: F1’s new mirror safety lights explained

As Formula 1’s new generation of cars finally began turning wheels in Barcelona, it wasn’t just lap times or bodyworks that caught the fans’ attention – it was also a small but striking detail blinking away at the edges of the cars.

The yellow lights embedded in the cars’ rear-view mirrors are not decorative, experimental or team-specific. They are part of a brand-new, mandatory safety system — and they mark a first for Formula 1.

Under the 2026 rules, every car must be fitted with additional “hazard lights”, similar in concept to those found on road cars. They are designed to complement the traditional red rain light mounted at the back of the car.

The aim is simple: make cars easier to see for drivers in the most dangerous conditions – particularly heavy rain – and from more angles than ever before.

Improving Visibility in Adverse Conditions

“The hazard lights have been brought in to help improve visibility in particularly wet conditions,” explained Sky Sports F1 consultant and former Aston Martin strategist Bernie Collins.

For years, Formula 1 has relied on a single flashing red light at the rear of the car to signal poor visibility. While effective in straight-line running, Collins highlighted a crucial weakness that has been exposed repeatedly during wet races.

“Before we had the rain light on the back of the car. That’s very good if you are directly behind the car in front,” she said. “But as we so often see, if a car spins or returns to the track either forwards or sideways, there’s no light in any of those locations.”

That exact scenario – a car rejoining at an awkward angle or sitting sideways in spray – has played a role in several high-profile incidents over the past decade. In dense spray, even cars just a few metres away can effectively disappear.

“So that’s why that sort of hazard light has been added to the wing mirrors of these new cars,” Collins concluded.

The mirrors themselves have been reshaped under the 2026 aerodynamic regulations, making them a natural housing for the new system without compromising airflow or driver sightlines.

A Quiet but Significant Change

While the introduction of hazard lights may seem modest compared to sweeping changes to power units, aerodynamics and car dimensions, it reflects a broader philosophical shift in Formula 1’s approach to safety.

This is the first time the sport has adopted a feature directly inspired by everyday road cars — a familiar concept adapted to extreme racing conditions.

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It also underlines how lessons from past wet-weather incidents continue to shape regulation changes, even when those lessons result in solutions that are visually understated.

The fact that the lights were immediately spotted – and questioned – by fans speaks to how unusual they look on an F1 car. Yet their very subtlety is part of the point: they are there to be noticed when conditions are at their worst, not when everything is running smoothly.

As testing continues in Barcelona and more teams join the action, the flashing mirrors will quickly become part of the new visual language of Formula 1.

They may not grab headlines once racing begins – but in the moments when visibility vanishes and danger spikes, they could prove to be one of the most important additions of the 2026 era.

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