F1 have announced th꧙e early details about the looming 2026 regulation overhaul which will see DRS replaced with a new overtaking aid.

The Drag Reduction System - which has been a feature of g𝔉rand prix racing since 2011 - will be no more from the end of next season. Instead it will be replaced by F1’s new ‘Manual Override Mode’. But what is it? And how does it work?

The new power-boost system has been added to the 2026 regulations in 𓆏a bid to improv🦋e overtaking opportunities.

With the redesigned power units boasting almost 300 percent more battery power, the new fe🀅ature will allow drivers to use more electrical energy when they are within one second of the car ahead.

How will ‘MOM’ work?

The new technology will enable a driver to use the maximum available power fro✨m their MGU-K while their rival ahead cannot.

F1’s new breed of cars’ energy deployment will gradually decrease after 290kph, dropping 𝓡right dow🔯n to zero at 355kph.

A driver using Manual Override Mode will continue ꦆto benefit from 350kW - or 0.5MJ of extra energy൩ - all the way up to 337kph as they look to hunt down and power past their rival.

The FIA’s single seater technical director Jan Monchaux explained that MOM “works a si⛎milar way to DRS”.

“If you are within a given distance, before the end of a lap to the car in front of you, then for the following lap, you will be gꦍiven the possibility to use more electrical energy than your opponent,” he said.

“That boost of electrical energy is th♛ere to replace what used to be the rear wing opening, to give a car that extra push to potentially go and try to overtake.”

Monchaux continued: “So when you enter the straight and the car is🌸 fairly close to the other to help the overtaking – since both cars will have rear wing open and front wing flap open – we are going to allow the car behind to deploy more electrical energy for a given portion of time during that lap.

“Right now with the DRS you are behind a car, within a second, that ticks a box and you are allowed to open youꦇr DRS in a straight line. This will not be the case anymore. However, the logic will be the same: I’m close enough to another car, I am given an extra amount of energy 🐓for that one lap, which I can deploy any way I want.

“The extra amount of energy is def𓄧ined and that will give that boost of ✃energy to eventually give the following car a chance to overtake by the end of the straight.”

And what about Z-Mode and X-Mode?

In addition to the overtaking aid, the 2026 iteration of slimmed-down, n⛄arrower and lighter F1 cars will feature more powerful aওnd sophisticated active aerodynamics.

Two moveable elements on the front and rear wings will provꦫide both a “Z-Mode” for maximum downforce and a “X𝐆-Mode" for the lowest possible drag configuration.

This system will be activated by the driver but only in certain parts of tracks where it is deemed safe to use lower 🗹levels of downforce.

“From our⛦ simulation work with the teams and their drivers, as soon as you have a rear wing that movesꦰ to reach the target drag level, it was clear that you needed to have an active front wing to match the balance characteristics,” the FIA’s head of aerodynamics Jason Somerville said.

“There were certain conditions where the drivers didn’t feel comfortable with a large forward aero balance, meaning lots of downforce on the front and not much downforce on the rear. So that leꦑd us towards the need to have an active front wing, as welꦑl as an active rear wing.”