taillight use/purpose & contact rules

[westmasswannabe]

Hello & thanks for having me ! After a 30+ year absence from watching F-1 I've been drawn back to this great part of racing & need to come back up to speed on equipment & rules.Sundays wet race at Nurgurg saw a frequent use of the rear red lights on the cars.I've not seen them illuminated so much & am curious about when they're used.I alreadt figured out they're not brake lights,but what is they're purpose & when are they used ?I saw them on during the heavy rains,then again on Felipe's[ or was it Fernando's ] car in the last 4-6 laps.On a differant topic,also during those last few laps,Alonso made his lead taking pass,but made tire contact with Massa's car.Is this allowed,& if not what would the penalty be ? Thanks gang & I look forward to becoming an asset to this forum. westmasswannabe

[luvracin]

The tail lights are switched on when it's wet. Although I'm unsure why some of them didn't appear to be on.

I believe they also come on and flash when the pit lane speed limiter is in use.

[OmarF1]

I think this rear lights indicate some kind of rain setup too, because back in 2005 when Alonso was wearing his tyres off at Monaco at some stages of the race (it was a dry one) he had this rear lights on.

and by the way welcome back to F1 mate, 30+ years?? that's a lot !!!

[ShiftingGears]

Hello & thanks for having me ! After a 30+ year absence from watching F-1 I've been drawn back to this great part of racing & need to come back up to speed on equipment & rules.Sundays wet race at Nurgurg saw a frequent use of the rear red lights on the cars.I've not seen them illuminated so much & am curious about when they're used.I alreadt figured out they're not brake lights,but what is they're purpose & when are they used ?I saw them on during the heavy rains,then again on Felipe's[ or was it Fernando's ] car in the last 4-6 laps.On a differant topic,also during those last few laps,Alonso made his lead taking pass,but made tire contact with Massa's car.Is this allowed,& if not what would the penalty be ? Thanks gang & I look forward to becoming an asset to this forum. westmasswannabe

The high intensity rain lights are used so that drivers know where the cars in front are, as the spray kicked up makes the cars very hard to see for the drivers - its a safety issue.

[leopard]

and by the way welcome back to F1 mate, 30+ years?? that's a lot !!!

Welcome, The second sentence has a risk he will be back here again in the next 30+ years

[Mickey T]

the light is compulsory wear if the car is wearing wet or intermediate tyres, and/or is in the pitlane.

i noticed barrichello's got knocked off, then fell in half

[Easy Drifter]

With respect to the 2nd half of the question re contact, as long as the stewards consider it an accident or racing incident nothing is done. It is a judgement call. Since you have missed the last 30 years(!) it has become more common and a certain 7 time world champion was a master at it, but not always without reprecussions! I do think the Massa/Alonso bump was just hard racing.