With DRS removed for 2026, Formula 1 needed a new way to give a chasing car a fighting chance of completing an overtake. The answer is a manual override — frequently described as a push-to-pass boost — that draws on the car's much larger 2026 battery. Instead of opening a rear-wing flap, a driver close behind a rival can deploy additional electrical energy to gain a temporary surge of power on the straight, helping them pull alongside and make the pass.
The logic ties directly to the new power unit. Because the 2026 power unit is so heavily electrified, the way a driver spends and saves battery energy is now a core part of racing. Normal energy deployment is managed to balance a whole lap, but the override lets a driver in pursuit call on extra energy at the right moment, accepting that they spend more of their store now in exchange for a real overtaking opportunity. It is closer in spirit to an energy-management tactic than to the old, purely aerodynamic DRS.
In practical terms this changes the feel of wheel-to-wheel racing. Under DRS, the chasing car got a near-guaranteed drag reduction in fixed zones whenever it was within one second; the overtaking benefit was largely automatic and position-dependent. With a manual override, the advantage is something a driver actively manages: when to use it, how much energy remains, and whether the defender has energy to respond. That puts more of the outcome in the drivers' and engineers' hands.
It is important to be honest about the level of detail here. The 2026 regulations define how much extra energy is available, in what circumstances it can be deployed, and any restrictions designed to keep racing fair — and these specifics are exactly the kind of thing the FIA refines as the formula beds in. What is well established is the concept: a manual, battery-fed power boost that a following driver uses to help overtake, taking over the role DRS used to play. For the precise deployment limits in any given race, check the current sporting and technical regulations.