Formula One news

De la Rosa expecting more passes in Spain

Pedro de la Rosa is both hoping and expecting to see more overtaking in this year's Spanish Grand Prix in comparison to past races there. The Circuit de Catalunya presents few overtaking opportunities, particularly due to the fact that most off-season testing is done at the Catalan venue which means that teams and drivers know it well.

Local man de la Rosa, however, believes that the combination of new regulations and car updates in Catalonia should result in an exciting afternoon of racing. "The new regulations will help, but only to a small extent," Pedro told Autosport. "People need to understand that overtaking is always more difficult in F1 than in any other sport, such as MotoGP for example. The new regs will spice it up a little bit; it will be easier to overtake because you'll be able to follow other cars more easily out of the high-speed corners - but it will be difficult."

An addition was made the track for 2007 with the installation of the Turn 13 chicane, designed to help boost overtaking opportunities into Turn 1 as well as improving safety, with little run-off area available towards the end of the lap. "Traditionally, Barcelona is one of the most difficult circuits to overtake on," de la Rosa confirmed. "I think the new rules and the last chicane will help make the racing more interesting for the spectators.

"The best way, really, to improve overtaking at Barcelona would be to increase the length of the main straight by another 500 metres. Of course, this is impossible but it's something that, for new circuits, people need to understand; in F1, we need very long straights followed by very hard braking zones into a hairpin just so that you can have a chance."

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