Fernando Alonso: F1 doesn't need much overtaking to be exciting

Amid fears that the 2017 rules revamp will make passing harder, Alonso argued this may not be a bad thing.

He gave the example of his 2005 San Marino Grand Prix battle with Michael Schumacher, when the Ferrari came through from 13th on the grid largely thanks to pit strategy then caught Alonso's leading Renault and spent the final stint right on its tail but unable to pass.

"There were three or four overtaking moves in the whole race, and it's considered one of the best shows," said Alonso of the Imola event, which he won by just 0.2 seconds.

"So I don't think that we need to put that attention on the overtaking, because before it was as difficult as it is now or even more and the races were great."

Asked if he felt the last grand prix in China featured too much overtaking, Alonso replied: "China is an extreme case because the race was very confused because of the strategies, the safety car and everything that mixed it.

"But definitely nowadays it's very possible that the car that is running 16th or 17th can overtake a Mercedes out of the pitlane with newer tyres and pull away.

"That's difficult to explain to the people in front of the televisions.

"The overtaking is probably not as real as it was before. You don't need to be inspired by something or to choose the right moment in the right place.

"If it's not in this corner, you wait another corner and you will pass because they are five seconds slower.

"I don't think we need to put a finger on one thing to improve the show because when we were having those races with two or three overtaking moves we were asking for more overtaking to improve the show."

Alonso said his primary concern was that the current regulations allowed too little scope for changes in the competitive order.

"We need some battles and the big names fighting for championships," he said.

"If in football we put Barcelona and Madrid fighting for the championship, everyone is watching the television.

"If you have, with all due respect, two small teams that no one knows, the people from those towns will watch the game but no one else.

"That is what is happening a little bit now.

"There is not real competition and you have hands tied sometimes.

"Probably now the races are a little bit too predictable in terms of who will win.

"It's difficult to catch up with the regulations as they are.

"The engines are more or less frozen and if you want to innovate or be creative with a car design it's quite impossible because the regs are quite strict on the aerodynamics.

"Now we have the same tyres, same tyre pressures, same weight distribution, same camber change.

"If Mercedes wins the first race it will win the 21st."