Ever tried hunting a lightning bug under darkness? F1 reaction test resemble this somewhat: blink and it’s gone. It looks like little at first view. Perhaps some blinking lights on a board or dots on a screen urging quick response. Still, this basic game For a driver in Formula 1, it is everything.

Legend has it about the Batak board. Lights burst into view at random. Drivers sometimes smother them almost comically, with the accuracy of a drummer. Get momentarily distracted; it’s game over—trainers and colleagues are always ready with a quip or a laugh. Though there is mention about “nerves of steel,” here it more like “fingers of lightning.”

Pressures? Olympic-caliber fierce. According to the numbers, it all Elite drivers often react in only 0.15 seconds or less, faster than most people catch their coffee cup before it slips over the desk. There is effort and sweat behind these figures. Teams run drivers through never-ending rounds of reaction training every day: morning, midday, anytime. Fans search for blazing lap times on Sundays, but the heavy effort usually takes place in the shadows with these extreme split-second testing.

Coaches examine everything—including your sleep quality, breakfast choice, previous night’s attitude. If you flinch, they will know. They celebrate when you grow quicker. Every microsecond cut, every reaction tuned in is what they want. Nothing is overlooked.

Many of the internet games and apps available to people who are inquisitive enough replicate these tests. That is a sobering wake-up call. Most users understand they are neither Lewis Hamilton or Max Verstappen; reaction times more closely reflect what you would expect from someone shocked on their couch than from a professional on the starting line.

Thus, know that it is far from random the next time you are observing the starting lights blink out and drivers launch themselves into action. It results from many mistakes, hours of practice, and a tenacious denial of “good enough.” And perhaps, just maybe, after a round or two facing those flashing lights yourself, you will see red lights in a whole fresh perspective. Blink you will literally miss it.