OVERTAKING in Formula One has become harder over the past few years.

This has resulted in drivers relying heavily on pit-stop strategies to gain positions during the race.

How do they plan it?

There are two main factors that would help a driver behind, "overtake" his rival via pit-stop strategy, instead of actually passing him on the track.

The "in-lap" is the lap where the leading car enters the pits first, giving the driver behind a clear open track to put in one or two good lap times.

If the driver is able to do two good laps, for example, and the pit crew is able to match or better the pit-stop time of the leading driver, the driver behind should be able to edge out in front, after his own pit-stop.

A good example of this was the last race at Sepang in Malaysia.

Ferrari's Felipe Massa was leading the race with team-mate Kimi Raikkonen following closely behind.

Since Massa was running a lighter fuel load, he had to enter the pits first anyway, giving Raikonnen an empty track ahead.

Raikkonen pushed hard for two laps, improving his time by almost a second a lap before entering the pits.

His pit-stop time was similar to that of Massa and he managed to just sneak past Massa as he exited the pit-lane.

This is probably the most common strategy used by teams.

But there are also other reasons why teams would pull their drivers into the pits earlier then expected or keep them out on track for slightly longer then planned.

HEAVY TRAFFIC

If a driver is faced with heavy traffic in front of him, maybe catching up with back-markers or lapping much faster then a group in front of him, there is no point in wasting time and letting the driver battle it out with the group ahead.

The team would usually pull the driver in for his pit-stop first to try and ensure continuous clear track ahead.

This also works the opposite way.

If a driver is due for his pit-stop and has a clear track ahead of him, the team will usually keep him out for up to three more laps than originally predicted, depending on how much fuel he has left.

LUKE NETTO is a self-confessed petrolhead and Formula One nut who often heads to the Sepang Circuit to race cars. This season, he will offer readers a layman's easy-to-understand analysis of the highly-technical sport

This article was first published in The New Paper on Apr 6, 2008.