Restart

A restart is the resumption of a motorsport race after it has been temporarily stopped or slowed down due to safety concerns, accidents, or dangerous conditions on the track.

When something goes wrong during a race—like a serious crash, debris on the track, or bad weather—officials need to stop or slow down the competition to keep everyone safe. Once the problem is fixed, the race continues with a restart that brings all the cars back together in an organized way.

There are two main types of restarts in motorsport. A rolling restart happens when cars line up in single file behind a safety car (a special vehicle that controls the pace). When the track is safe again, the safety car leaves and racing resumes when the green flag waves. A standing restart is more like the original race start, where cars stop completely and line up on the grid before restarting with a full starting procedure.

The safety car is the most common reason for a restart. This special vehicle comes out when there's an accident or debris that needs to be cleaned up, but the situation isn't dangerous enough to stop the race completely. All racing cars must slow down and follow the safety car until the track is clear.

More serious situations require a red flag, which stops the race entirely. This might happen during severe crashes, extremely dangerous weather, or when track conditions become too unsafe to continue. After a red flag period, races typically resume with a standing restart.

Restarts are exciting moments because they bunch up the field and give drivers new opportunities to gain positions. However, they can also be chaotic since many cars are close together when racing speeds resume. Different racing series have specific rules about how restarts work, including where drivers can begin overtaking and how they must behave during the restart procedure.