Rules & scoring

Last updated 2 November 2026

Lights Out Live is free and just for fun. These rules keep the leaderboards fair for everyone.

Which starts count

Only live race starts count. Scores are open from 15 minutes before the scheduled start until 4 hours after, which covers formation laps, aborted starts and red-flag restarts.
You must time the start as it's shown on your TV or stream. Using a recording, a replay or this site's practice lights instead of the live picture isn't allowed.
Save each start within 3 hours of the lights going out.
If there's more than one start (an aborted start or a restart), save each one. Your best time counts.

The app has to see the lights come on and then all go out.
Jump start: tapping before the lights go out. It isn't saved.
Under 0.100 s counts as anticipation (guessing, not reacting), so it can't go on the board. That's the same limit used in sprint athletics.
Over 2 seconds isn't treated as a reaction and stays off the board.

Each Grand Prix and Sprint has its own leaderboard. Your position on it earns championship points, F1-style:

Position	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10
Grand Prix	25	18	15	12	10	8	6	4	2	1
Sprint	8	7	6	5	4	3	2	1

Ties on a race board: whoever saved the time first goes ahead.
Ties in the championship: most race wins, then the fastest single start of the season.
Private leagues use the same rules, but positions and points are worked out among league members only.

Your TV's delay cancels out, because the phone sees exactly the picture you see. What's left is the phone itself:

Most phones film at about 30 frames a second, so the moment the lights go out is known to within about ±15–20 ms. Times are shown to the millisecond, but very close results are effectively a dead heat.
Where the browser reports exactly when each camera frame was captured (most Android phones in Chrome), that's used directly. Where it doesn't (for example iPhone Safari), a fixed 50 ms camera delay is applied to everyone during live races. The delay setting in the app only applies outside live races.

One account per person.
Every saved start includes the camera's light reading around lights out (numbers only, no images). Starts that don't line up with everyone else's, or look edited, are flagged for review.
We can remove scores that break these rules, and suspend accounts that keep doing it.
Think a score is wrong, or that yours was removed by mistake? Email hello@lightsoutlive.com.

There are no prizes. Leaderboards and championships are for bragging rights only.
The site is provided as it is, and may be unavailable, change or reset without notice. These rules may be updated as the site develops.
Lights Out Live is an independent fan project. It isn't affiliated with, endorsed by or connected to Formula 1, the FIA or any team. Formula 1, F1 and related marks belong to their owners.