Race starts represent the most chaotic form of motorsports. They combine the intensity of the first two corners with back racing, but without the calmness of high-level pack racing. During race starts, you'll encounter people trying to win on turn one, drivers locking up both behind and ahead of you, spinning incidents, and crashes happening on both the inside and outside. Even in real life, most coaches acknowledge the difficulty of race starts by simply advising drivers to stay alive and stay out of trouble. While this advice is correct, there are strategies you can employ to put yourself in the best possible situations.

The Unpredictability of Race Starts

Every tip provided here might work very well in one situation, but the opposite approach might be the best option depending on what happens around you. You might choose the outside at a specific track because it's statistically safer, but then someone crashes on the inside and gets thrown to the outside, hitting you anyway. Luck plays a more important role in race starts than anywhere else in racing, so keep this in mind as you develop your approach.

Mental Preparation and Mindset

The first thing to remember is that everyone around you is nervous—it's not only you. When you arrive at the starting grid, you might feel terrible, stressed, nervous, shaking, tense, and you may even stop breathing if you focus too much on the stress itself. However, if you remember that everyone around you is also nervous, it allows you to relax and let this tension out.

If you think the driver behind or ahead of you is more nervous than you are, you realize that you have control over their moves. They're not going to box you in or make you lose positions. Instead, you're going to make moves on them or stay close enough to prevent anything bad from happening. This mindset shift is crucial for race start performance.

Breathing and Relaxation Techniques

Be relaxed and breathe normally during race starts. Try not to hold your breath. While this may sound silly, it works. You need to focus your limited energy on your spatial awareness and on taking quick decisions. At least 80% of the crashes that happen in race starts are avoidable. This means you can spot them happening, see the car getting bigger ahead of you, and avoid it slightly. You can look at the crash ahead and decide where to go. Remember, this is 80%—not 100%.

Turn One Strategy and Execution

On turn one, most people will get too aggressive, especially behind you. There is an accordion effect where people start checking up mid-corner, particularly if it's a lower speed corner. Here's what you need to do: you're not going to be "careful"—careful is a bad word. Instead, you're going to be in control of your car.

Braking Technique for Race Starts

You're going to brake slightly early because you don't want to be on the limit of deceleration, unable to slow down and hitting someone ahead. The key technique is to lift just a little bit before braking. Then you're going to adjust your brake pressure to stay as close as possible to the car ahead. This adjustment is critical.

If you brake too late, there's nothing you can do. If you brake too early and stay on the brakes, then you are losing track position and someone behind you is going to hit you. But if you brake a little bit early and then adjust your track position by releasing the brakes accordingly, you have much more control of your track position. You leave much less space for people behind you to crash into you. You leave some space, and then as the car slows down to mid-corner, you get super close. At this point, you try to get the best exit possible.

Primary Goals During Race Starts

Your number one goal in race starts is to avoid damage. This is the most important thing. However, remember that avoiding damage does not mean braking early and staying on the brakes, because then you can actually cause a crash. You can cause people to hit you from behind, or you can become an easy victim with less control. You want to avoid damage by being super close to the cars ahead. This point cannot be emphasized enough.

Inside vs. Outside Line Selection

The decision of whether to choose the inside or outside on turn one depends heavily on the corner characteristics and speed. Let's examine different scenarios.

Low Speed Corners (Example: Spa Turn One)

Spa's turn one is a very low speed corner where people enter fast and lots of crashes commonly occur. If you choose the inside in this type of corner, what typically happens is that people clog up. They slow down too much, and the accordion effect becomes huge. There's a significant chance that people might get sandwiched by hitting each other because one person slows down too much and people from behind lose their brakes and hit them. This is very common.

At the same time, if you are on the inside and there's no issue, you're actually protected from crashes that happen on the outside. Crashes on the outside will generally cause the cars to move outward. So if you're on the outside and someone crashes on the inside, the natural direction they're going to go is straight to the outside, making you dependent on luck.

However, assuming that people on the inside are clogging up—which is very possible—you can actually make one, two, or even three positions on the outside if you're able to stay on the limit and carry lots of speed. At the same time, if people are not clogging up on the inside and are actually doing a good job while you try to go on the outside, you will most likely lose a position or two.

For very low speed corners like Spa turn one, it's generally safer to choose the inside because people don't slow down as much since the corner is already very slow.

High Speed Corners (Example: Sebring Turn One)

Sebring turn one is a very high speed corner. On the start, you have lots of cars beginning to clog up on the inside. They go very slow because they're trying to gain position, but their vision is closed because there are so many cars too close to each other. Many drivers make passes on the outside easily because on the outside, you feel free to focus on keeping the car on its limit. You see lots of space while everyone else is packed together depending on what's happening on the inside, giving you a good run where you can make passes.

This strategy has proven successful in real life racing situations, where making five positions on the outside during the first two or three corners is possible because people are clogging up and slowing down too much on the inside. This is especially common on cold tires and when people are nervous.

The recommendation is: for low speed corners on turn one, prefer the inside; for high speed corners on turn one, prefer the outside. However, even when choosing what is statistically the better option, bad luck can still occur. For instance, even after choosing the outside at Sebring consistently, someone can make a mistake and spin on the inside, get thrown out to the outside, and hit you, costing you positions despite making the statistically correct choice.

Spatial Awareness and Crash Avoidance

When you realize something is happening through your spatial awareness, you must already be making adjustments to your driving. As soon as you realize a car is spinning or sliding toward you, you need to try your best to avoid the crash. The key technique when seeing a car starting to slide toward you is to relax your hands and add a little bit of brakes so that you can slow down without spinning.

Common Crash Causes and Prevention

One of the most common causes of crashes in race starts is braking while maintaining steering angle. When you're turning and see something happening ahead, the worst thing you can do is start braking while still keeping the steering angle. As soon as you add the brakes with the steering input, you spin the car.

This is why understanding car handling techniques is so important in race starts. As soon as you get off your racing line and have to react in totally uncharted territory, you have to understand your car and your inputs so that you don't induce any unwanted spin.

Defensive Driving and Assertiveness

Be assertive, be aggressive, move around, and make people know that you are going to do something about it. If you become too careful, if you brake too early, if you stay on one line and do everything slowly, then people behind you might think they can dive bomb you. Defend your position and then come back, move around, and show that you're going to keep your position so that you can discourage aggressive moves.

Everything from previous racing lessons applies here—it just happens very fast, and you're changing from move to move, from lesson to lesson, in a fraction of a second all the time.

Tire Management During Race Starts

Try to take care of your tires from the very beginning. The technique of braking a little bit earlier and adjusting your track position with brake release helps tremendously with saving tires. This means you're not desperately trying to stop the car and locking up. If you lock up the tires—whether in a simulator, in real life, or in iRacing—the effect is the same.

If you abuse the tires on the first lap during the first corners, you're going to suffer with performance for the rest of the race. You are destroying your tires while they're cold and in their early phase, and you can feel that effect snowballing throughout the whole stint. The more you take care of the tires on the first few laps, the better your performance will be later in the stint.

It is a win-win scenario to brake a little bit early and release your brakes throughout the entry of these corners full of cars. You're going to save yourself from being hit, save yourself from hitting someone, and you're going to save your tires.

Exit Strategy and Track Position

After you deal with the entry, after you choose your lane, after you brake carefully and stay very close to the car ahead, and after you avoid any crashes, it's time to start thinking about a good exit.

Importance of Exit Speed

The second most important thing in race starts is getting a good exit so that you don't invite other drivers to attack on the very next corner. It's very beneficial to find a single line early so you can attack the drivers ahead instead of fighting side by side and losing the pack ahead.

Just like any other racing scenario, if you're side by side with someone, the driver ahead in single file will be faster than you no matter what you do. If you're in single file early and there's a fight ahead of you, there's a big chance you can make one or two positions very early in the race.

Using All Available Track

Even in race starts, it's possible to find yourself in a single lane with the opportunity to use all the track on entry, all the track mid-corner, and all the track on exit, gaining lots of positions on the straights after. If you find yourself in a situation where there are two cars ahead, then you, then another two cars behind, don't stay on the inside following them.

Instead, stay on the outside, use all the track on entry, use all the track mid-corner, use all the track on exit. By the time you reach the exit, while those drivers are still fighting, you're going to have a better exit and you're going to be able to attack afterward.

Priority Checklist for Race Starts

Make sure you take all these boxes of priority:

• I'm not going to hit anyone

• I'm going to brake early

• I'm going to release my brakes to adjust track position

• I'm going to get as close as possible to the cars ahead

• I'm going to focus on getting a good exit

• If there's space on my sides, I'm going to use all the track

Just by focusing on these things, your race starts are already going to be better than 80% of the grid.

Practical Examples and Analysis

Example 1: Three-Wide Situation and Track Position Management

In one scenario, a driver finds themselves in a three-wide situation and decides to stay in the middle to get the draft of the red car ahead to gain some track position. However, being boxed in on the inside is not a very good place to be—you can't really do much in that position. The driver lifts, waits a little bit, and then decides where to go. As soon as they realize the red car is going to the outside, they move to the space on the inside, which allows them to have some room to brake without hitting anyone. Having room ahead means you can gain extra track position under braking.

The driver then breaks a little bit later, and you can clearly see the braking technique in action. They brake a little bit early, but then release the brakes when they realize they can have extra track position. They start braking at roughly the same spot as the car on the left, but then release the brakes and gain speed compared to the car on the left. They brake more or less in the same spot, then release the brakes and go a little bit faster on the inside. However, they realize they don't have much room because the red car goes to the inside, so they slow down a little bit more and stay behind that car.

At this point, they can think about the exit. The track distance between them and the car ahead shows these cars are pretty close, but there's some space to the cars behind. This is optimal—it means they have more control. If they were right on the car ahead's bumper, it wouldn't be ideal because they'd be depending on that driver doing a good job. But in this position, they are in control, and knowing they're a good driver who won't hit the car ahead, they can stay close and focus on getting a good exit.

When getting the exit, they think about what to do next. The red car ahead is probably going to attack, and those cars will go side by side. The driver realizes there's no one behind them, so they prepare a very good run and use all the way to the inside because there is space. They get a very good exit, and then face a three-wide situation for the next corner.

The driver decides to lift rather than commit to the three-wide, and then gets back to trying to use as much track as possible. They weren't sure if another driver was going to use certain space, so they didn't go there, but they still went as much as they could in their available area to maintain a good line. They turn in, carry as much speed as possible in their lane, make the pass, and get a better exit. When they realize they're clearing themselves from one car, they use all the track on the exit. You can see them getting back on power earlier, gaining track position, clearing themselves from the other car, going all the way to the outside, having a great run, and now being able to try to make a pass on the red car as well.

This example shows there are lots of changes of plan happening. The driver didn't nail everything and pass everyone in a perfect way—they were trying things, evaluating, waiting, and trying again. There is enough time; you don't have to nail everything. You just have to be sure that whatever you do will work in a safe way.

Example 2: High-Risk Three-Wide Decision

This example demonstrates the very definition of a higher risk move in a race start. At one point, you can choose to go left, but there's not a lot of space there, and the next corner is a long right-hander, so it's probably not ideal to stay on the outside in such a long corner. You can go to the inside, but there's a possibility of forming a three-wide situation.

Getting drafted, the driver decides to go to the inside, and this is where there's big risk because if the drivers on either side decide to be aggressive, they can form a four-wide, and the track actually tightens more and more into the next corner. However, in a situation like that, in a three-wide scenario, it's actually safer for the car on the inside, so the car deciding to form the three-wide at this point might have the advantage in case anything happens.

Being on the inside is tricky—you have zero room, so you have to almost follow the inside lane precisely. The driver is aware that there is a three-wide situation and that there's no space because of another car. In this scenario, it ends up being better for them and they gain both positions.

However, this is very tricky. If you don't know how to maintain the car on the inside like that, be careful when trying three-wide, especially because even if you don't cause a crash, if you don't know how to carry speed in such a tight lane, you end up over-slowing yourself and lose the positions anyway. Many drivers try to form three-wide into a race start and then, lacking confidence that they're going to pull it off, they over-slow and lose positions. You end up losing more positions than you would if you just stayed behind and tried to follow. Be careful because if you check up due to lack of confidence, you end up losing more positions than the alternative approach would have cost.

Example 3: Higher Level Racing and Spatial Awareness

In a higher level race, the pack racing is much closer during race starts. Even though there are cars everywhere, you can see how drivers are managing their spatial awareness and giving space to everyone else. At certain points, when it's clear to go, drivers can use all the track, and you can see the car moving all the way to the outside as soon as they realize there is more space.

Movement is very important—a driver might go to the left, move back to the right, use all the track going to the left again, and then try to pass on the outside. You can see how one driver decided to form a three-wide and stayed on the very right lane, but as soon as they cleared themselves, they started using all the track. This is a very important adjustment that depends on being very aware of what's around you.

In situations where you could decide to form a three-wide but you're in the worst position possible, you can see drivers lifting and deciding not to form the three-wide in that situation. This is especially wise when you're positioned such that fighting for one or two positions ahead will cause you to lose the driver behind, who could otherwise help you attack. It's a good decision to wait until you get a better opportunity to actually make a pass. Because you let the drivers ahead fight only two-wide instead of three-wide, you're actually now very close to the leader, meaning you can still follow the pack and fight for the win.

Example 4: Crash Avoidance and Spatial Awareness

This example demonstrates excellent crash avoidance combined with proof of spatial awareness. A driver starts braking into a corner with no idea that cars are about to crash ahead. They brake repeatedly, start turning in, and suddenly see that cars ahead are starting to have an incident. The driver's plan is to use all the track on the inside because they see that there is no one right behind them on the inside, so they have lots of space on their right.

Because of that spatial awareness, they allow themselves to just turn and use the whole track, even though it looks like there's absolutely no space because it's a race start. But there is space—it's just right there in the gap—and you have to identify it and use it very quickly. It's a very good decision because if they had chosen to stay on the outside just because they weren't sure if anyone was there, they would have been caught in that accident.

Even after avoiding the initial incident, you can see the driver has to reapply the brakes because everyone is checking up a little bit, and they're making sure they're not causing any other crash.

Example 5: Focusing on Exits Over Entry Aggression

This is proof that during a race start, it's a very good decision to focus heavily on your exits instead of trying to just overdrive the car on entries. A driver sees cars fighting, with one car thinking about going to the inside, so they know those cars are going to be slower mid-corner. At that point, track position will be valuable after the corner, not in the corner.

What the driver does is brake very early—very early—and patiently prepare the best exit they can possibly execute. You can see a very slow braking application, just making sure the car is very well set, and then a very aggressive exit. This allows them to easily gain that position.

Looking at the braking trace, this is not what you're supposed to do in a hot lap, but in a race start, this technique represents security, track position, and deceleration. The brake release represents track position adjustment, and the reapplication ensures proper slowing. The driver is consistently adjusting their brakes according to what's happening around them and how far they are from the cars ahead. In that situation, while it might seem less than ideal from a hot lap perspective, the driver actually gains two positions just by trying to stay as close as possible to the cars ahead and getting a good exit.

Example 6: Unavoidable Incidents

You can try whatever you want, but depending on luck and the situation, you sometimes can't avoid anything. In one example, a driver uses slow braking to ensure good track position, decides to go to the inside, but realizes very early—even turning slightly left—that they should abandon the inside because they saw another driver in the mirror who was going to hit everyone.

That driver hits one car, and both cars start going in one direction because of the contact. The aware driver decides to go all the way to the inside, which is the right decision, but someone else had lost their braking and hit them anyway. In that situation, there's really not much that could have been done. The driver could have maybe stayed on the outside and checked up with the other cars, which would have resulted in less damage but would have required stopping anyway. They didn't even see the car on the inside because that driver had changed direction abruptly. This is an unavoidable scenario in racing that everyone will eventually have to deal with.

Example 7: Dealing with Chaos Aggressively

This final example demonstrates how to deal with chaos in an aggressive way. There are lots of things happening ahead—people fighting, crashing, and spinning—and the driver stays in charge of their future by staying as close as possible to the cars ahead, not by trying to check up and make themselves a passive actor or victim of what's happening behind.

The driver uses all the track, realizes they can't go to the inside in one spot, goes the long way around the outside, gets back on power, and then sees people starting to crash. They're not even going full throttle at this point and start braking a little bit. Then they go right to avoid one car, but there's already someone in that position, so they have to be careful not to check up and cause a crash behind. They get back on power right away to make the car gain track position in that area. With still lots of things happening, they find their way through successfully.

The main objective in this scenario is to avoid the incidents while staying as far forward as possible so that you avoid being hit from behind. This aggressive approach to chaos—maintaining forward momentum while making constant micro-adjustments—is what separates successful race start navigation from passive, defensive driving that often leads to being collected in incidents anyway.