Overtaking in modern F1 is rarely a simple case of one car being faster. It is a mix of aerodynamics, tyre condition and timing, and a lot of it happens in the pit lane rather than on track.
Slipstream and dirty air
A car punches a hole in the air, leaving a low-drag wake behind it. A following driver who tucks into that slipstream (or “tow”) gains speed on the straight and can slingshot past. The catch is dirty air: the turbulent wake also robs a following car of downforce in corners, making it slide and overheat its tyres. That is why a car can be glued to a rival on the straights yet unable to follow closely through the bends.
When several cars were bunched (in pre-2026 races) and each had DRS on the car ahead, the advantage cancelled out; a DRS train formed and nobody could break clear.
Moves into a corner
The classic pass is the dive-bomb (or “lunge”): braking later than the car ahead to grab the inside line into a corner. Defend against it well and you set up the switchback: the defender takes a tight, slow line, lets the attacker run wide, then cuts back underneath with more speed onto the next straight.
The undercut and overcut
Most overtakes actually come through strategy. In the undercut, you pit before a rival; your fresh tyres are several seconds a lap quicker, so by the time they stop a lap or two later, you have leapfrogged them.
A worked example: you trail a rival by 1.5 seconds. You pit; your new tyres are worth 1.2 seconds a lap. After two laps you have clawed back 2.4 seconds, more than the gap, so when your rival finally pits, they emerge behind you.
The overcut is the reverse: you stay out on older tyres while the rival pits into traffic or onto cold rubber, banking fast laps in clear air, then pit later and rejoin ahead. Which one works depends on tyre wear, track position and how much “dirty air” the cars are fighting.