Some moves you remember as noise and color. These F1 overtakes you remember as decisions. A brake marker ignored. A dry line abandoned. A rival measured for laps, then passed in a place that did not look open.
This is for people who replay onboards, who care about how a driver builds a move, not just who ends up ahead. The 14 here are picked for craft: position, grip, traffic, risk, context. Not just drama for clips, but lessons in how the best think at full speed.
In plain words: if you want to understand real racecraft in F1, start with these overtakes.
Why These Overtakes Matter
Overtaking in F1 is not just late braking. It is saving battery without looking slow. It is reading wind, marbles, and mirrors. It’s having the nerve to trust that the other car will see you.
The best moves land because the homework is done. Tyre temps, fuel, dirty air, small mistakes. These are calculated, not guessed. That is why certain passes sit in the sport’s spine while others fade into highlight reels.
If you trace these overtakes closely, you see patterns. Patience. Set up. Use of traffic. A feel for grip where nobody else looks. That is racecraft.
The Moves That Explain Racecraft
1. Hakkinen On Schumacher At Spa
Picture Spa 2000. Mika Hakkinen has already tried Michael Schumacher once into Les Combes and lost out. Two laps later he lines it up again, this time with Ricardo Zonta’s BAR dead ahead. Hakkinen chooses the inside, Schumacher the outside, and the McLaren slices past both on the run to the braking zone.
This pass capped a comeback win and helped keep Hakkinen’s title push alive. Spa’s Kemmel straight is long, but to time double slipstream like that, at those speeds, against that rival, still sits near the top percentile of risk controlled by logic, not hope. It remains one of the clearest examples of using a backmarker as a tool, not a problem.
Hakkinen said later that he trusted Schumacher to leave just enough room. You can see that respect. I still flinch a bit when I rewatch it because you know how fine the margins were, and how easily it could have been carbon everywhere.
In the McLaren truck they talked about how the failed first attempt taught them the delta. Same straight, better data, same courage. That is racecraft as applied science.
2. Senna’s First Lap Donington
Here is the messy genius. Donington 1993, wet, cold. Ayrton Senna starts fourth, drops to fifth, then on the same first lap passes Schumacher, Wendlinger, Hill, and Prost. Different corners, different lines. He hunts grip on the outside where others tiptoe along the usual path.
In one tour of the circuit he moves from fifth to first. In context, that opening lap rates with the most dominant single laps in F1 history. It looks wild. Look closer and you see deliberate line choice, throttle patience, and an instinct for traction that still reads as elite in any era.
Senna called it one of his best drives. Watch his hands. Small movements, no panic. I am not sure anyone in that moment truly processed what they were seeing. It felt like he was racing on a different track.
Stories from that weekend recall Senna walking sections in the rain, staring at drainage and patches. When the lights went out he already knew where the grip might be. The rest is that strange calm he carried when conditions went sideways.
3. Alonso Outside At 130R
Suzuka 2005. Fernando Alonso refuses to sit behind Michael Schumacher’s Ferrari any longer. He swings to the outside at 130R, a corner with a reputation, and sends the Renault through flat while Schumacher pinches the inside.
On pace it is one move, one place. In context it is a statement. Passing a seven time champion at one of the fastest corners in the sport takes this from routine overtake to all time clip. Even in modern grip and layout analysis, that kind of side by side at 130R sits right at the high end of commitment.
Alonso later called that move a key moment in his title fight confidence. The paddock heard it that way too. Watching that onboard, you feel the car dance, and you feel zero lift in his belief.
Insiders say the Renault engineers knew how strong their aero map was through fast sweepers and encouraged Alonso to trust it. That is the thing. Trust inside the car, backed by staff who built something that could live there.
4. Raikkonen’s Last Lap Suzuka Charge
Same track, same year. Different flavor. Kimi Raikkonen starts 17th in Japan 2005, charges through the field, and catches Giancarlo Fisichella on the final lap. Out of the final chicane and into Turn 1, he sends the McLaren around the outside for the win.
Stat wise, that day remains one of the great climb drives. Sixteen places gained, with the decisive overtake on the very last lap, at a corner where everyone expects the leader to defend inside and the chaser to settle.
Kimi’s radio was calm. Afterward he shrugged the noise off, classic Kimi. But look, this is the one I show people when they tell me modern F1 is just about pit cycles. You can feel the entire crowd hold its breath.
Back in the garage there were stories of engineers triple checking fuel numbers, tyres that were close, not perfect, and a driver who kept asking only for clear information. No drama. Just give me the gaps. That attitude is stitched into the move.
5. Webber Commits At Eau Rouge
Spa 2011. Mark Webber lines up Fernando Alonso into Eau Rouge and Raidillon. Side by side through that compression is the sort of idea people talk about then delete. Webber does not delete it.
By any modern model, going through there two wide at that speed is at the top five percent of commitment. It was not for a title on that day, but as an act of pure conviction, it belongs in this group. This is racecraft with a bit of stubborn belief.
Webber admitted he thought about lifting, then did not. Alonso trusted enough to leave survival space. Every fan who watched live can still hear the commentary lift a half octave.
In debrief, Red Bull people spoke about how often Webber backed himself in high speed corners. It fits. He saw enough overlap and knew that if he bailed there, he would see it in his own head for months.
6. Piquet On Senna Hungary Bravery
Hungary 1986. Nelson Piquet versus Ayrton Senna, two Brazilians, dry dusty track, low grip. Piquet launches a move around the outside into Turn 1, the car snapping, almost sideways as he gathers it up while clearing Senna.
In pure numbers, the move is wild for the era’s tyre and aero package. It sits high on difficulty because Hungary was already known as a place where passing is hard and margins for error small. Even now, it is replayed in any serious top tier overtakes collection.
A fan said, “Piquet overtaking Senna there, others not even close.” That kind of reaction has survived decades because people know what it took to hold that slide and commit. It shows how fan memory locks onto risk backed by control. www-bing-com-ck-a_!&&p=4800dc97…
Old Brabham and Williams mechanics tell stories about Piquet’s feel for balance. That move is that feel, turned right up, with Senna of all people on the inside.
7. Mansell Around Peraltada Mexico
Mexico 1990. Nigel Mansell on Gerhard Berger at Peraltada. Late in the race, in dirty air, Mansell sends the Ferrari around the outside of a long, fast final corner that scares even the best.
That pass helped lock Mansell in fan memory as one of the boldest racers of his time. Peraltada, pre layout changes, belonged in the upper bracket of commitment corners. Doing it late, on worn tyres, makes the probability charts look silly.
Mansell said more than once that he never wanted to leave questions on track. You see that personality here. I have watched that replay so many times and still feel my shoulders tighten when he commits.
Behind the scenes, Ferrari engineers were split between calling for caution and letting him go. The driver won that argument. Racecraft is also knowing when your own risk meter matters more than the pit wall’s nerves.
8. Villeneuve And Arnoux At Dijon
Dijon 1979. Technically France. Realistically its own planet for a few laps. Gilles Villeneuve and Rene Arnoux trade second place with lockups, slides, wheel banging, and mutual refusal to back down.
There is not one overtake here, there is a volley. In terms of passes per lap and position swing, it runs hot even compared with modern aggressive duels. It did not decide a title, but as a reference in racecraft education, it lives near the top because it shows respect tucked inside chaos.
Arnoux later said racing Villeneuve there was like dancing with someone who would never step aside but never try to hurt you. That balance is why the clip still runs every season.
Old timers in the paddock still smile when you mention it. You can feel that this was racing before radio code words and pace targets took some rough edges off. Watch it once. You will get why drivers bring it up.
9. Hamilton Versus Rosberg In Bahrain
Bahrain 2014. New era turbo hybrid cars, teammates who are not just teammates. Lewis Hamilton and Nico Rosberg play out a high speed argument over several laps. The key sequence comes into Turn 4 and Turn 1, Hamilton defending hard on the outside then inside, reading exactly how much room to leave.
On paper, a lot of this is defending, but the passes and repasses form a complete lesson. Multiple lines, fake dives, switchbacks. In raw numbers, their pace gap to the field that night sits in elite territory, yet they still fought like it was for a single contract.
Team radio caught Toto Wolff saying, “Keep it clean,” but you can hear the stress. The moves stayed just inside that line. For anyone trying to understand modern racecraft with hybrid deployment, tyre management, and respect baked in, this is core material.
Inside Mercedes, people still talk about how that fight set the tone for the years that followed. It showed both how far the drivers would go, and how precise they could be under real threat.
10. Verstappen In The Brazil Rain
Brazil 2016, wet race, low visibility. Max Verstappen in the Red Bull starts finding grip on outside lines, places you are not supposed to use. The standout pass comes on Nico Rosberg around the outside of Turn 3, car crossed up, catching slides.
He climbed from deep in the pack back to the podium. The timing loops show his pace in those closing laps stacked with some of the best wet weather runs on record. That Rosberg move is the sharpest frame inside that whole picture.
Verstappen called those laps some of the most enjoyable of his early career, which tells you where his bar sits. Watching live, it felt like someone had turned up the contrast on his car alone.
Red Bull staff later explained how they trusted Max to search for grip lines on his own. No spoon feeding. That freedom, plus his car control, produced a sequence coaches now use in driver briefings.
11. Ricciardo’s Baku Divebomb Masterclass
Baku 2017. Daniel Ricciardo has already lost time with debris and stops, then starts carving back through the field. The signature move is the triple overtake into Turn 1, braking impossibly late on the inside while three cars ahead try to sort themselves out.
From a risk reward perspective, that move sits in the thin zone. Pit data showed his braking point far beyond conservative marks. In terms of passes gained per attempt, it was one of the most efficient all in lunges of that season.
Ricciardo joked later that late braking is “kind of my thing.” You could hear the grin. I keep coming back to how relaxed the car looked at the very end of the stop. Locked in, not flailing.
Engineers at Red Bull talked privately about how his pedal feel numbers matched the picture. He knew exactly how close he could go without losing it. That is racecraft as confidence, rehearsed so many times it looks casual.
12. Leclerc’s Abu Dhabi Charge
Abu Dhabi 2024. Charles Leclerc starts deep, with Ferrari locked in a constructors fight. He makes up 11 places on lap 1 through clean reads of traffic, slipstream, and avoidance of contact when the pack compresses.
Eleven cars in one lap is rare in modern F1 with such tight fields. In comparative terms, it lines up with some of the best opening laps of the last decade for positions gained without contact or penalties.
One comment read, “That was a masterclass in space finding.” Fans latched on because it was attacking and smart, not wild. You could see how often he chose the line nobody else touched.
Behind closed doors, Ferrari staff praised how much prep Leclerc put into alternative first lap lines. That kind of work turns chaos into controlled aggression. Even if none of those moves were for the lead yet, they show racecraft you cannot fake.
13. Alonso Versus Schumacher At Imola
Imola 2005. Fernando Alonso in a Renault with worn tyres, Michael Schumacher in a Ferrari that has hunted him down. This time it is about the refusal to let the overtake happen.
For lap after lap, Schumacher attacks into Tamburello, Variante Alta, Rivazza. Alonso places the car in all the right spots. In pure stats, it is defense, but as a study in how to stop a faster car passing on a tight track, it belongs beside the big overtakes as the inverse lesson.
Alonso said he knew exactly where he could trust the rear and where he had to cover. Watching those laps, shoulders tense, you see perfect micro adjustments. Racecraft is not only sending it. It is saying no.
People within Renault recall the way the garage emptied to the pit wall for those final tours. When your engineers forget their laptops, you know something special is happening.
14. Street Circuit Threading In Singapore
To round this out, go to Singapore. Heavy air, concrete close. That Marina Bay layout has seen its share of questionable tactics, but also some clean, vicious racecraft in traffic and on worn tyres.
Singapore sits high on lists of physically hardest races and has produced a string of street circuit overtakes that show patience. Late moves into Turn 7, brave dives at Turn 14, crossovers out of the final sector. The best ones rank strongly when you adjust for how small the windows are.
Drivers often call this place brutal. When someone threads a move without contact here, you feel the whole value of preparation and restraint. Look, maybe I am biased, but a good Singapore pass tells you as much about a driver’s brain as any dry move at a classic track.
Inside teams, the planning for this race starts early. Extra cooling. Extra focus on traction. Long meetings about when to surprise a rival who thinks nobody would dare. When it works, it is unforgettable.
What Comes Next
New rules and tracks shape how these moves look, but the ingredients do not change. Read grip. Manage tools. Know your rival. Trust yourself. We will see fresh lunges in Vegas, Jeddah, Miami, wherever the calendar stretches, and some will join this kind of list because they show something true, not just loud.
The question is simple: which current driver is building a reel that will still teach racecraft in 20 years.
