As groups are sacrificing all their deal with finalising the all‑new automobiles for the 2026 Formulation One season, F1Technical’s senior author Balázs Szabó takes an in depth have a look at the variety of overtakes recorded throughout final 12 months’s championship.
The variety of overtaking manoeuvres decreased through the 2025 Formulation One season because the ground-effect period got here to a detailed after a four-year spell.
Crucial issue was the gradual return of soiled air. As groups continued to develop their automobiles, they recovered a lot of the downforce that the 2022 laws had initially tried to restrict.
This growth made the automobiles extra delicate to turbulence, which meant that drivers struggled to comply with carefully sufficient to try overtakes. At circuits like Suzuka, drivers overtly complained that the automobiles felt “tedious” to race in visitors, they usually required a a lot bigger tempo benefit than anticipated to finish a go.
One other main issue was the character of the circuits themselves, particularly those who had been resurfaced. Suzuka supplied the clearest instance: the brand new tarmac provided little or no grip off the racing line, which discouraged drivers from trying strikes as a result of the danger of sliding huge or dropping management was too excessive.
Consequently, the 2025 Japanese Grand Prix produced solely fifteen overtakes, in contrast with forty‑eight the earlier 12 months. A number of drivers even in contrast the expertise to racing at Monaco, the place overtaking is notoriously troublesome.
The aggressive order of the sphere additionally contributed to the decline. The highest groups — Pink Bull, McLaren, Ferrari, and Mercedes — have been separated by extraordinarily small efficiency margins. This closeness meant that observe place turned unusually highly effective, and overtaking turned uncommon even among the many entrance‑operating automobiles.
Lastly, the season featured much less strategic variation than in earlier years. Tyre degradation was typically low, pit‑cease methods tended to converge, and the undercut and overcut have been much less highly effective. With fewer alternatives to achieve positions by means of technique, drivers have been pressured to make passes on observe — and that was exactly what had develop into harder.
The 2 extremities
The extremes of the dataset stay outlined by Abu Dhabi and Monaco. Abu Dhabi’s 60 overtakes underline the effectiveness of its lengthy straights and heavy‑braking zones, the place the DRS delta sometimes exceeds 18–22 km/h relying on wing degree. The Yas Marina format additionally options a number of power‑restoration alternatives, permitting drivers to deploy extra electrical energy when attacking.
In distinction, Monaco’s whole of simply 4 overtakes displays the circuit’s structural limitations: the common cornering pace is low, the observe width hardly ever exceeds 10 metres, and the DRS zone gives a negligible pace differential. Even with the 2022–2025 aero package deal, the turbulent‑air sensitivity in gradual, slender corners nonetheless prevents significant shut following.
Excessive variety of overtaking
A number of circuits persistently produced excessive overtaking numbers because of their beneficial aerodynamic and mechanical profiles. Bahrain, São Paulo, Mexico Metropolis, Canada, Spain, Hungary, and Austria all fall into this class.
Most of those circuits mix lengthy straights with braking zones that exceed 4–5 g, creating pure passing alternatives. The DRS deltas at these venues usually attain 15–20 km/h, and the tyre degradation charges — notably on the rear axle — generate vital tempo offsets over a stint.
The Hungaroring and the Montmelo circuit are particularly noteworthy as a result of each circuits have been traditionally processional. The 2022 floor‑impact laws decreased wake turbulence by roughly 30–40%, permitting automobiles to comply with extra carefully by means of medium‑pace sequences such because the Hungaroring’s Flip 4–5 complicated or Barcelona’s revised last sector. Consequently, each circuits now repeatedly produce double‑digit overtaking totals.
A big group of circuits sits in the course of the overtaking spectrum, producing average however not distinctive go counts. Nice Britain, Singapore, Saudi Arabia, Texas, China, Belgium, Azerbaijan, Miami, Italy, Las Vegas all fall into this class.
Many of those tracks characteristic lengthy sequences of medium‑ and excessive‑pace corners the place aerodynamic load is excessive and following turns into harder. At Silverstone, for instance, the downforce sensitivity by means of complexes akin to Maggotts–Becketts or the Esses limits the flexibility to remain inside one second for DRS activation.
Road circuits akin to Singapore, Jeddah, Baku, and Las Vegas usually rely closely on race interruptions, tyre offsets, and observe evolution. Their braking zones are sometimes sturdy overtaking factors, however the slender racing line and low grip ranges cut back the consistency of passing alternatives.
The place was overtaking at a premium?
A smaller group of circuits produced comparatively low overtaking totals past Monaco. Qatar, Japan, and Australia all fall towards the decrease finish of the dimensions.
These circuits share a standard aerodynamic problem: lengthy, excessive‑pace sequences that generate sturdy downforce and subsequently sturdy wake turbulence.
At Qatar, for instance, the common cornering pace is among the many highest on the calendar, and the DRS delta on the primary straight is commonly inadequate to compensate for the time misplaced within the previous corners.
Australia and Japan current comparable points, with restricted heavy‑braking zones and a reliance on technique, undercuts, and tyre heat‑up traits fairly than direct wheel‑to‑wheel racing.
Geographic sample
A geographic sample additionally emerges from the info. Center Japanese and American circuits typically produce greater overtaking totals,
reflecting their fashionable design philosophy, which prioritises lengthy straights, huge nook entries, and a number of DRS zones.
European circuits, in contrast, present far higher variability. Some, akin to Austria, Hungary, and Spain, have tailored nicely to the bottom‑impact period, whereas others, akin to Monaco, stay basically constrained by their historic layouts.
F1GP Singapore
