Gap

In motorsport, a Gap refers to the time or distance between vehicles during a race, measured in seconds or visible space on the track.

Gaps are crucial to racing strategy. Drivers work to "close the gap" when pursuing competitors ahead or "create a gap" to establish a lead. Race commentators frequently mention gaps to indicate how close the competition is—"Hamilton has a 2.5-second gap to Verstappen" means Hamilton leads by that time margin.

The term also describes opportunities for overtaking, as in "he saw a gap and went for it." In some racing circles, particularly drag racing, getting "gapped" means losing by an embarrassingly large margin—a situation all racers strive to avoid.