The invention relates to a method for controlling or regulating the temperature of a metal strip in a cooling path of a hot rolling system. A desired temperature gradient is compared to an actual temperature gradient in order to determine adjusting signals for the cooling path. At least one target function is formed for actuators of the cooling strip, taking into account auxiliary conditions, and said target function is solved as a quadratic optimization problem for the purpose of model predictive regulation. The invention also relates to an overlapping regulation for the finishing train and the cooling path of the hot rolling system.