De la Rosa expects more overtaking

Although the Catalan track is reputed to be one of the hardest to pass on in F1, partly because of the number of testing miles teams have done there to perfect their set-ups, de la Rosa thinks there will be a small improvement this year.

"The new regulations will help, but only to a small extent," de la Rosa 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.

"Traditionally, Barcelona is one of the most difficult circuits to overtake on. I think the new rules and the last chicane will help make the racing more interesting for the spectators."

De la Rosa added that he believes new grand prix venues need to consider featuring longer straights to make overtaking easier. He cites Barcelona as a good example of this problem.

"The best way really to improve overtaking at Barcelona would be to increase the length of the main straight by another 500m," he said. "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 you can have a chance."

De la Rosa warned that tyre wear could be more important in the Spanish Grand Prix than in recent races as the track surface takes a lot out of the rubber.

"It's extremely hard on tyres - one of the hardest on the calendar," said de la Rosa. "It's always important to have a good balance with the car, not too much oversteer or understeer, to keep the tyres alive for longer.

"You've got to think about your driving style and not be too aggressive on the tyres too early. Otherwise, you will lose a lot of time during a long stint."