Out-Lap & In-Lap
VerifiedThe lap leaving the pits and the lap returning to them, both slower than a representative lap and usually excluded from pace reads.
An out-lap is the first lap after leaving the pits, run at reduced pace early on to bring tyres and brakes up to temperature before pushing. An in-lap is the last lap of a run, before peeling into the pits, often eased off once the driver knows the timed lap that matters is already done.
Neither lap is representative of a car's real pace, so both are normally discarded when reading practice long runs or comparing lap times; including one would understate how fast a car actually is mid-run.
They still matter for tyre and fuel management: a slow out-lap on a cold tyre is part of why an in-and-out pit stop costs more time than just the stationary time in the pit box (see pit-lane time loss).