During a test session in Spain earlier this year, Lewis Hamilton’s Mercedes featured two vertical LED lights strips mounted on its rear wing, as part of an evaluation study by the FIA.
These new flashing lights are believed to be of help in conditions such as heavy spray, mostly because of their positioning – considerably higher than the traditional rain light. According to Autosport, a proposal to make these new lights mandatory for 2019 has been officially approved.
Unfortunately, the sunny conditions during that post-Spanish Grand Prix test meant that Mercedes could only test to see if they function properly. Still, teams should get plenty of chances to see how well they light up the rear ends of their cars once they start preparing for next season.
While rear end-plate lights have been used in the World Endurance Championship, F1’s intended use of the technology will make this its first practical single-seater application, now that all teams have unanimously backed the plan.
To be clear, the rear wing-mounted flashing lights will only serve in addition to the larger rain light positioned at the tail end of the cars, meaning there will be a total of three light sources combating the effects of heavy rain and spray on the track – conditions that often affect visibility a great deal and can even lead to accidents on the track.
