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A parade lap, also known as a pace lap, formation lap or warm-up lap, is a lap before a
motorsport Motorsport or motor sport are sporting events, competitions and related activities that primarily involve the use of Car, automobiles, motorcycles, motorboats and Aircraft, powered aircraft. For each of these vehicle types, the more specific term ...
race begins, in which the drivers go around the track at a slow speed (usually between ), and, in some cases, behind the
safety car In motorsport, a safety car, or a pace car, is a car that limits the speed of competing cars or motorcycles on a racetrack in the case of a ''caution period,'' such as an obstruction on the track or bad weather. The safety car aims to enable the ...
.


Purpose

The lap is to ensure that track conditions are safe, and that there are no dangerous problems with the cars (including the safety car) or the circuit. The parade lap either leads to a
rolling start A rolling start is one of two modes of initiating or restarting an auto race; the other mode is the standing start. In a rolling start, the cars are ordered on the track and are led on a certain number of laps (parade or caution laps) at a prede ...
,
standing start A standing start is a type of start in automobile, auto auto racing, racing events, in which cars are stationary when the race begins (different to the rolling start, where cars are paced). Some categories of land speed record also require a stan ...
, or back to the grid. Short circuits (such as the Brands Hatch Indy circuit layout) often have two of these laps. Overtaking is usually permitted on these laps in motorcycle racing, but not in car racing. The lap also allows the cars to warm up their tyres, which is crucial in order to be competitive during the race. Drivers will often attempt to warm up the tyres more quickly during the lap, by steering slowly from side to side, and may sometimes also warm their brakes.


Usage

In
Formula One Formula One (F1) is the highest class of worldwide racing for open-wheel single-seater formula Auto racing, racing cars sanctioned by the Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile (FIA). The FIA Formula One World Championship has been one ...
, the official title is ''formation lap''. Any car which fails to leave the grid before the last qualifier has moved away is required to start from either the pit lane or the back of the grid. In
MotoGP Grand Prix motorcycle racing is the highest class of motorcycle road racing events held on Road racing, road circuits sanctioned by the Fédération Internationale de Motocyclisme (FIM). Independent motorcycle racing events have been held sin ...
and the
Superbike World Championship Superbike World Championship (also known as WorldSBK, SBK, World Superbike, WSB, or WSBK) is a silhouette road racing series based on heavily modified production sports motorcycles. The championship was founded in . The Superbike World Champion ...
, it is known as the ''warm-up lap''. In
NASCAR The National Association for Stock Car Auto Racing, LLC (NASCAR) is an American auto racing sanctioning and operating company that is best known for stock car racing. It is considered to be one of the top ranked motorsports organizations in ...
, the parade lap is referenced as a ''pace lap,'' and safety car speed is the same as the pit lane speed limit.


Incidents

* 1991 San Marino Grand Prix,
Alain Prost Alain Marie Pascal Prost (; born 24 February 1955) is a French former racing driver and motorsport executive, who competed in Formula One from to . Nicknamed "the Professor", Prost won four Formula One World Drivers' Championship titles and� ...
and Gerhard Berger both went off the track in wet conditions; Berger re-joined and retook his grid position, but Prost stalled and was immediately out of the race. * 1996 French Grand Prix, the
Ferrari Ferrari S.p.A. (; ) is an Italian luxury sports car manufacturer based in Maranello. Founded in 1939 by Enzo Ferrari (1898–1988), the company built Auto Avio Costruzioni 815, its first car in 1940, adopted its current name in 1945, and be ...
of
pole position In a motorsports race, the pole position is usually the best and "statistically the most advantageous" starting position on the track. The pole position is usually earned by the driver with the best qualifying times in the trials before the ra ...
qualifier
Michael Schumacher Michael Schumacher (; born 3 January 1969) is a German former racing driver, who competed in Formula One from to and from to . Schumacher won a record-setting seven Formula One World Drivers' Championship titles, tied by Lewis Hamilton in ...
stopped with an engine fault. * 1998 Japanese Grand Touring Championship at
Fuji Speedway is a motorsport race track standing in the foothills of Mount Fuji, in Oyama, Shizuoka, Oyama, Suntō District, Shizuoka, Suntō District, Shizuoka Prefecture, Japan. It was built in the early 1960s. In the 1980s, Fuji Speedway was used for the ...
, the Ferrari driven by Tetsuya Ota aquaplaned while braking during the parade lap and collided with another car, with both vehicles exploding into a fireball on impact. * 1999 Indianapolis 500, a collision on the formation lap eliminated three cars. * 2009 Valencian MotoGP,
Ducati Ducati Motor Holding S.p.A () is an Italian motorcycle manufacturing company headquartered in Bologna, Italy. History Barely a month after the official liberation of Italy in 1944, SIATA announced its intention to sell this engine, called ...
rider
Casey Stoner Casey Joel Stoner (born 16 October 1985) is an Australian retired professional motorcycle racer, and a two-time MotoGP World Champion, in and . During his MotoGP career, Stoner raced for the factory teams of Ducati and Honda, winning a tit ...
crashed at the second turn of the
Circuit Ricardo Tormo Circuit Ricardo Tormo, also known as ''Circuit de Valencia'' is a motorsport race track located in Cheste (Valencian Community, Spain) and built in 1999. The track is named after Spanish, two-time world champion Grand Prix motorcycle racing, Gr ...
and missed the race. * 2018 Detroit Grand Prix,
General Motors General Motors Company (GM) is an American Multinational corporation, multinational Automotive industry, automotive manufacturing company headquartered in Detroit, Michigan, United States. The company is most known for owning and manufacturing f ...
' executive Mark Reuss crashed a Chevrolet Corvette ZR1
pace car In motorsport, a safety car, or a pace car, is a car that limits the speed of competing cars or motorcycles on a racetrack in the case of a ''caution period,'' such as an obstruction on the track or bad weather. The safety car aims to enable th ...
during a pace lap, delaying the start of the race by 30 minutes. * 2023 São Paulo Grand Prix,
Charles Leclerc Charles Marc Hervé Perceval Leclerc (; born 16 October 1997) is a Monégasque racing driver who competes in Formula One for Ferrari. Leclerc was runner-up in the Formula One World Drivers' Championship in with Ferrari, and has won Grands ...
's Ferrari suffered a hydraulics issue which led to him crashing into a barrier. * 2024 São Paulo Grand Prix,
Lando Norris Lando Norris (; born 13 November 1999) is a British racing driver who competes in Formula One for McLaren. Norris was runner-up in the Formula One World Drivers' Championship in with McLaren, and has won Formula One Grands Prix, Grands Prix ...
mistook the aborted start procedure for an extra formation lap and by doing so caused chaos because many drivers turned their engines off and had to restart them in order to do the extra lap. *
2025 Australian Grand Prix The 2025 Australian Grand Prix (officially known as the Formula 1 Louis Vuitton Australian Grand Prix 2025) was a Formula One motor race that was held on 16 March 2025 at the Albert Park Circuit in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia. It was the firs ...
,
Isack Hadjar Isack Alexandre Hadjar (, ; born 28 September 2004) is a French and Algerian racing driver who competes Formula One drivers from France, under the French flag in Formula One for Racing Bulls. Born and raised in Paris to an Algerian family, Hadj ...
spun and crashed at the exit of turn 2 due to
aquaplaning Aquaplaning or hydroplaning by the tires of a road vehicle, aircraft or other wheeled vehicle occurs when a layer of water builds between the wheels of the vehicle and the road surface, leading to a loss of traction that prevents the vehicle ...
.


References

Motorsport terminology {{Motorsport-stub