Harvest

Harvest in motorsport refers to the process of capturing and storing energy during braking or deceleration, which can then be reused later to boost the car's performance.

Think of harvesting like a rechargeable battery in your phone. When a race car brakes, instead of wasting all that energy as heat, modern racing cars can capture some of it and store it for later use. This stored energy can then give the driver extra power when they need it most, like during overtaking or accelerating out of corners.

The most common way cars harvest energy is through regenerative braking. When the driver hits the brakes, the car's electric motor works backward, acting like a generator. This slows the car down while simultaneously creating electricity that gets stored in the car's battery system.

Formula 1 cars use an advanced harvesting system that can also capture energy from hot exhaust gases. This means they're recovering energy that would normally just disappear as waste heat from the engine.

Energy harvesting isn't automatic - it requires strategy. Drivers and their teams must decide when to harvest energy and when to use it. Harvesting too much might slow the car down at the wrong time, while not harvesting enough means missing opportunities for extra power later.

You can often spot when a car is harvesting energy because its rear lights will blink rapidly. This warns other drivers that the car ahead might be slowing down more than expected, helping prevent accidents.

In electric racing series like Formula E, energy management through harvesting becomes even more critical since drivers must carefully balance their energy use to complete the entire race distance.