The Art of Overtaking
In all of our previous blog posts we have covered techniques that are important for optimal racing. But once we place other cars on the track, things change. You can no longer take certain lines, track conditions change, but most importantly, you now have to manage driving a very precise car with other cars around you. We already understand how to drive optimally, so now we need to learn how to drive to pass others.
There are two ways of overtaking a car in front of you: into a corner, and on a straight. The first is what we will focus on. Overtaking a car on a straight is relatively simple. Either you get a better exit from the previous corner or you use the slipstream that they provide to get past. From there, you are now on the defensive. We won’t cover too much about defense here, because while it is complicated, it can be simplified to two things. One: if the gap to the car behind is large enough that they can’t make a move, try to drive optimally. Two: when in a wheel to wheel fight, it’s generally better to place your car on the inside of a corner, as it is more difficult to overtake around the outside for grip reasons. Even though we told you not to take the inside line in our first post, by now you should have the technique to take an inside line and still get an exit that is fast enough to stay ahead of the attacking car. Defending could use an entire post, but those two tips should keep you ahead of the majority of other racers.
Now, onto the interesting stuff: overtaking. We’ll cover the four most common overtakes that you need to learn; a divebomb, going around the outside, a switchback, and a fake divebomb.
We’ll start with the flashiest of the overtakes, the divebomb. A divebomb occurs when you are behind a car going into a corner. You move to the inside and attempt to brake later than the defending driver. By doing this, your car enters the corner first, and places you ahead of the defending driver. However, there are certain criteria that must be met for a divebomb to be considered legal. The FIA, the governing body of F1, state that the attacking driver must be significantly alongside the defending driver before the apex in order to be entitled to space through the corner. “Significantly alongside” means that the front axle of the attacking car must be at least even with the rear axle defending car. If the attacker is entitled to space, the defending driver must leave at least one car’s width on the inside through the corner. Finally, the attacking car must meet one final, very reasonable test. They must be able to take the corner without going off track or making contact with the defending driver. If any of these criteria aren’t met, then the attacking or defending drivers can be assessed penalties to punish for their unsafe driving. Below is Daniel Ricciardo executing one of his famous divebombs in the 2019 Singapore Grand Prix.
The next overtake is going around the outside of a corner. While it doesn’t look overly difficult when pulled off, the driving skill required for this move is impressive. As you now know from your own experience in the sim, taking a wider line means a greater steering input, which theoretically means less throttle. Going around the outside requires a perfect understanding of your car’s grip. Depending on the radius of the corner, this move can be easier to pull off. The shorter the radius, the harder it is to go around the outside because you have less space to do so, and you need a much higher steering angle. There are many ways to pull off this move, whether it be braking later or simply carrying more speed than the defending car. As for the legality, the attacking driver must be fully alongside or ahead of the defending car in order to be entitled space. As with a divebomb, the defending car would then be required to give a car’s length on the outside. If you are skilled enough, you can take advantage of this rule in order to force the defending driver to slow down so they meet the one car width requirement. However, this move has significant drawbacks. If you don’t meet the requirement of alongside or ahead, the inside defending car can use the entire track as they don’t have to give space. This effectively closes the door on the attacking car and their exit becomes extremely slow compared to the defending car. Below is one of the most famous overtakes in F1 history, where Fernando Alonso goes around the outside of Michael Schumacher into 130R at the Japanese Grand Prix in 2005. He quoted after the race: “I knew he would brake. He has a wife and kids at home”.
For a more technical move, we have the switchback. A switchback occurs when you as the attacking driver take a very wide outside line while the defending driver takes the inside. Because you force the defending car to the inside, they should typically have an slow, outside exit. The goal of a switchback is to time your braking and turning so that you can go underneath the defending driver as he exits wide. This technique does require a very good understanding of braking zones, as you must know where the defending driver will be in order to undercut him. Below is Esteban Ocon executing a textbook switchback against Checo Perez in the Singapore Grand Prix in 2023.
These final two techniques are more geared towards mental games rather than insanely aggressive moves, but are still extremely effective. The general idea behind the fake divebomb and the dummy move is to force the opponent to make a mistake and give you what you want, be it them going too late in the braking or them giving up the inside line. A fake divebomb is when you line up you car on the inside of the straight leading up to the corner. This creates a sense of pressure for the defending driver. Often, they panic at seeing you on the inside. This leads to one of two outcomes, both of which end up in you overtaking them. First, they dive to the inside ahead of you, which then allows you to retake the optimal line through the corner and get a better exit. Secondly, they try to brake late and go around the outside, but while they have the idea of braking past the normal brake point, you go back to the optimal line and braking point to get a better exit. The opposite of a fake divebomb is a dummy move. A dummy move is when you set yourself up on the outside as if to overtake the long way, and then at the last second you lunge to the inside to overtake. Below is Daniel Ricciardo pulling off a wild dummy move against Sebastian Vettel at Monza in 2014.
So, now you now most of the typical forms of overtaking. It’s up to you to decide when to use them depending on legality, the upcoming corner, and track knowledge. Try to mix up which overtakes you try to keep your opponents guessing, and you’ll likely come out on top. Good luck, and we’ll see you on the Sim!
We must give credit to the YouTube channels whose videos we used above. We mean no copyright infringement, solely to provide a demonstration of the techniques we talked about.
Formula 1 - Ultimate Daniel Ricciardo Overtakes Compilation
#F1 Shorts - Fernando Alonso Overtake Schumacher Japan 2005 Japan - F1 Best Moments
Formula 1 - The Top 10 Overtakes of the 2023 F1 Season
yelistener - Ricciardo being the Dummy Move Master in Monza
