Adam Edwards4 said:So, I’m not really a regular on the forums or anything, but since I just recently started getting into Formula 1, I figured I’d jump in here with a question. From what I've gathered so far, an undercut is when you pit early to try and leapfrog someone, while an overcut is more about letting the rival go first to gain an advantage later. Is that actually how it works? And specifically, why do teams pull these moves—is it always a direct response to the car ahead pitting, or is there more to the strategy than that? A little breakdown would be awesome if anyone has the time! 👍 Not sure if this is the right thread for it, but I wasn't exactly sure where else to look.
You can find a brief overview of the Formula 1 regulations
here.
Regarding the rules (under
Tires and wheels):
Unless wet or intermediate tires are used during the race, all drivers must use at least two different specifications of dry-weather tires in the race, at least one of which must be one of the two mandatory sets nominated by Goodyear, though the teams are free to decide which one.
In other words, in a dry race, every driver is required to use at least two different tire compounds that were predetermined for that specific Grand Prix. Theoretically, a single pit stop would suffice, but on certain tracks where the asphalt is quite abrasive and wears down rubber quickly, you might see drivers heading to the pits up to three times.
As for the matter of the
overcut and the
undercut, during previous seasons, the
undercut—which is essentially pitting earlier than the driver you are directly racing against—was generally the winning strategy. You see, Goodyear was producing tires that degraded quite rapidly, losing performance quickly, so it made sense to switch to fresh rubber to gain pace over those on older tires, thereby leapfrogging the competition and hopefully snatching a position while driving in clean air.
Of course, everything depends on the circuit, and even this year, the Goodyear tires don't wear down quite as aggressively or lose their edge as fast as they once did. If your tires are still in good shape and you happen to have the softest, fastest compound available, there are moments where staying out on track might actually pay off through an
overcut to secure a better position.
