Undercut and overcut: getting past a rival without passing him on track

In modern Formula 1 a lot of places change hands in the pit lane rather than on track. The two key strategy moves are the undercut and the overcut, and they work in very different conditions.

The undercut: pit one lap early

You're running second, a second or two behind the leader, and there's no way past on track. So your team brings you in one lap before him. On their first lap, fresh tyres are a second or two quicker than worn ones. While your rival spends his extra lap on old rubber, you make up the time, and by the time he rejoins you're already ahead. You've gone 'under' him with an earlier stop, hence the name.

What makes it work

The new tyres need a big advantage over the old ones, and they have to warm up quickly. You also need clear track when you rejoin. Come out in traffic behind a slower car and the gain is gone. That's why engineers work out the 'window' in advance: exactly where the driver will slot back in after the stop.

The overcut: stay out longer

The overcut flips it around: you stay out longer than your rival. It works when new tyres are hard to warm up (a cold track, the hard compound) or when your old set still has pace. While he struggles on cold rubber, you string together a couple of quick laps in clean air, then pit and come out in front.

Covering the stop

A leader who sees the undercut coming will often pit on the very next lap. That's called covering. Stop too early, though, and the tyres may not last to the flag. Strategy turns into a game of nerves: who blinks first.

How to spot one live

The giveaway is a run of very fast laps straight after a stop and a gap that keeps shrinking. LapRadar's Live centre shows intervals, tyre age and pit stops for every driver, and the gap-to-leader chart tells you whether the move came off.