FIA confirms Overtake Mode adjustments possible if system proves unbalanced
Overtake Mode has replaced DRS for the 2026 season.
The FIA’s single seater director Nikolas Tombazis said the new Overtake Mode can be strengthened or weakened depending on whether it proves to be unbalanced.
DRS has been banished in favour of Overtake Mode which will send extra energy to the battery when drivers are in close combat.
FIA director reveals details of Overtake Mode
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The new mode can only be activated when a car is within a second of another, as was the case with DRS, and will allow the driver to recharge an extra 0.5 megajoules in order to sustain a higher speed for longer.
Of the many things tested in the two sessions in Bahrain, that feature was not one given extensive coverage as the teams were running their own programmes and no racing situations took place.
For that reason, Tombazis did not comment on how effective it will be but did say the FIA could strengthen or weaken it depending on how races play out.
“It is circuit dependent,” he said. “And at the moment, we haven’t had much opportunity to evaluate it here, because clearly people are all doing their programs, and we don’t want to take any risks also doing testing.
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“So I think it’s a bit early to say on overtaking. But I think Overtake Mode can also be, you know, if we feel it’s too weak then we can strengthen it and if we feel it’s too powerful, we can also reduce it, if necessary.”
The rule changes have had more than a few critics with the likes of Max Verstappen suggesting it does not feel like F1 anymore.
While Tombazis did discuss the Dutchman’s complaints, he also said there will be no “kneejerk” changes before the first race in Australia.
“I think realistically, Australia would be very difficult to have any change,” the former Ferrari engineer said. “And I also don’t think there’s really a cause to knee-jerk.
“We want to be discussing these things for the stakeholders. We don’t want to be stepping in and doing things. We think we’ve got fundamentally a good product. But we want to get all the feedback properly and to analyse it. So as I say, the game is long. It’s not one race or two races.”
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