The Overcut

A pit-stop strategy where a driver stays out on track longer than a rival instead of pitting first, gaining track position by setting fast laps on old tires while the rival loses time in the pits and re-emerges into traffic. It's the mirror image of the undercut, which wins position by pitting earlier, not later. The overcut works when the out-lap for a fresh set of tires is slower than expected — cold tires, traffic on exit, a tricky pit lane — or when the driver staying out can genuinely match new-tire pace on a worn set for a lap or two longer than their rival anticipated. It's a riskier bet than the undercut because it depends on the rival's stop going smoothly rather than on your own pace alone, which is exactly why race engineers treat it as the higher-variance option of the two. Motorsport.com covers strategy calls like this lap by lap during race weekends.