Watching a Grand Prix, you often hear commentators, drivers and engineers use words that sound like a code: undercut, graining, lift and coast. In 2026 the Formula 1 vocabulary has changed again, because the new rules have retired DRS and introduced active aerodynamics, Overtake Mode and a whole new approach to energy management. Here are the ten terms you need to know today to follow a Formula 1 race without missing a thing, with a short guide to the words that now belong to the past.

Updated September 2026.

In short: the classic terms you still need are graining and blistering, for tyre wear, undercut and overcut, for pit strategy, understeer and oversteer, dirty air and slipstream. The new ones from 2026 concern the technical rules: Straight Mode and Corner Mode for active aerodynamics, Overtake Mode, which replaced DRS, Boost and super clipping, the way cars recover energy. Porpoising, the big story of 2022, has become mostly a memory with the 2026 cars.

1. Graining and blistering

These are the two main ways a tyre degrades. Graining occurs when the tyre runs below its ideal temperature and slides across the asphalt: the surface tears into small rolls of rubber that stick to the tread and reduce grip. Blistering is the opposite problem: the tyre overheats inside, bubbles form and then burst, leaving holes in the tread. Blistering is more serious, because performance collapses. Drivers weave during the formation lap or behind the safety car precisely to warm their tyres up to the right temperature.

2. Undercut and overcut

These are the two strategies used to pass a rival in the pits rather than on track. With the undercut a driver pits before the car ahead: on new tyres he laps faster, and when the rival pits in turn, he rejoins behind. The overcut is the opposite: you stay out longer than your rival, making the most of clean air and a lighter car, while the rival loses time warming up new tyres or gets stuck in traffic. Which one works depends on the track, tyre degradation and the time lost in the pit lane.

3. Understeer and oversteer

They describe how the car behaves in a corner. With understeer the front loses grip first: the driver turns the wheel, but the car tends to run wide. With oversteer it is the rear that slides: the car tends to spin and the driver has to correct with opposite lock. Much of the work between driver and engineers over a weekend goes into finding the right balance between these two behaviours.

4. Dirty air and slipstream

A Formula 1 car leaves a wake of turbulent air behind it. For a driver following closely, this dirty air reduces downforce and makes it harder to stay close to the rival in corners, as well as overheating the tyres. On the straights, however, the same slipstream is an advantage: the following car meets less drag and gains speed, the so-called tow.

5. Active aerodynamics: Straight Mode and Corner Mode

This is the most visible change of 2026. Front and rear wings are no longer fixed: in the zones set by the regulations, usually on the straights, the driver can open the flaps and switch to Straight Mode, with less drag and a higher top speed. In the corners the car returns to Corner Mode, the normal configuration, with full downforce. Unlike the old DRS, you do not need to be within one second of the car ahead: everyone can use it in the designated zones. There is also an intermediate mode for wet conditions.

6. Overtake Mode

It is the successor to DRS as an overtaking tool. If a driver crosses the detection point, usually at the final corner, less than one second behind the car ahead, on the next lap he can activate Overtake Mode: he has an extra half a megajoule of electrical energy available and can use full electric power up to higher speeds to attempt a pass.

7. Boost

In 2026 the electric part of the power unit is worth almost as much as the combustion engine, and the driver can decide when to use it. By pressing the Boost button he deploys battery energy wherever he wants, all at once or spread over the lap, to attack or defend. From the 2026 Miami Grand Prix the FIA limited Boost in the race to an extra 150 kW.

8. Recharge, lift and coast and super clipping

With such a significant battery, recovering energy has become essential. Cars recover it in four ways: under braking, at part throttle, by lifting off the throttle and through super clipping. Lift and coast, lifting off before the braking point and letting the car roll, already existed to save fuel, brakes and tyres; in 2026 it is mainly used to recharge the battery, and at the start of the season it was so frequent that it sparked debate among drivers and fans. Super clipping is energy recovery with the throttle still fully open, at the end of the straights or in fast corners, at the cost of a little top speed. From Miami the FIA raised its limit from 250 to 350 kW, partly to reduce the use of lift and coast.

9. Sprint

The Sprint is a short race, of about 100 kilometres and with no mandatory pit stops, held on Saturday at some weekends, with its own qualifying and points for the top eight. In 2026 there are six Sprint weekends: China, Miami, Canada, Great Britain, the Netherlands and Singapore, with Canada, the Netherlands and Singapore hosting one for the first time.

10. Safety Car and Virtual Safety Car

When there is danger on track, race control can deploy the Safety Car: the cars line up behind it, the gaps are wiped out and overtaking is not allowed. With the Virtual Safety Car, introduced in 2015 after Jules Bianchi’s accident at Suzuka in 2014, no car goes out on track: every driver must respect a minimum time shown on the steering wheel, and the gaps between cars stay more or less unchanged.

Terms from the past

Some words that were everywhere in 2022 now tell the story of another era. Porpoising, the high-frequency bouncing of the ground-effect cars of the 2022-2025 period, has almost disappeared with the flatter floors of 2026, although engineers remain careful not to fall back into it. DRS, the movable rear wing used for fifteen seasons, from 2011 to 2025, has been replaced by active aerodynamics and Overtake Mode. And the Coanda effect, which some teams used in 2012 and 2013 to direct exhaust gases towards the floor, no longer plays a role in today’s cars. We also cover it in our article on why Formula 1 cars make sparks.

If you want to dig deeper, Formula 1 publishes an official glossary, and we have gathered the basics of the championship in our article on how Formula 1 works. And if you look at Formula 1 as a company, start from our page on Formula 1 sponsorship or contact us.

Sources: Formula 1, the official glossary; Formula 1, the new 2026 terms; Motor Sport, the 2026 mode names; The Race, Boost, Overtake Mode and active aero; Autosport, the changes from Miami 2026; The Race, super clipping; The Race, the mid-season changes; Motorsport.com, drivers on energy management; Formula 1, the 2026 power units; Formula 1, the 2026 Sprints; Motorsport.com, how the Safety Car and VSC work; Autosport, porpoising in 2026; Autosport, Coanda-effect exhausts; F1 Chronicle, graining and blistering.