From 2011 to 2025, overtaking was helped by DRS: a flap in the rear wing that opened on straights if you were within a second of the car ahead. In 2026 that system is gone, replaced by three separate tools. Commentators use all three names, and they are easy to mix up.
1. Straight Mode and Corner Mode (active aero)
Both front and rear wings now move. In Corner Mode, the default, the flaps are closed for maximum grip. On straights the FIA designates, the driver can switch to Straight Mode: the flaps flatten, drag drops and top speed rises. Brake or lift and the wings close again.
Unlike DRS, every driver can use Straight Mode in those zones, whether or not anyone is ahead. It is a speed tool, not an overtaking aid. See aerodynamics and active aero for why.
2. Overtake Mode
This is the real successor to DRS. If a driver is within one second of the car ahead at the detection point - usually the final corner - then for the whole of the next lap they can harvest an extra 0.5 MJ of energy and use a more aggressive electrical power profile. In practice: the chasing car can keep full electric power higher up the straight, where the car ahead’s is tapering off.
3. Boost
Boost is not tied to a gap. It is a button that lets the driver take manual control of energy deployment anywhere on the lap, to attack or defend. The catch: the battery is small, so energy spent here is not available later. A driver who boosts out of one corner may be a sitting duck at the next.
Energy is the new tyre
The 2026 cars get about half their power from electricity, and the battery can be emptied within a single straight. Drivers now manage energy the way they always managed tyres: harvesting under braking, sometimes lifting early to recharge, and choosing where to spend it. Expect to hear "lift and coast" and "recharge" a lot.