Valtteri Bottas has disagreed with George Russell's assessment that Formula 1 overtaking in the Spanish Grand Prix will be improved with the track change. The final chicane has been removed in Barcelona, with the old swooping fast double right sequence returning. It has led to cars bottoming out over bumps not previously a factor in the slow-speed exit from the chicane, with the hope that overtaking will be boosted thanks to the higher speeds on the pit straight.
Bottas disagrees with Russell
Owing to the slow-speed nature of the chicane, drivers would concertina up to the car ahead, but lose time in the right, left, right sequence. As a result of the slower speeds then experienced on the pit straight, overtaking would be tricky, with a lunge at Turn 10 becoming the prime overtaking spot. However, while Russell feels a "little" benefit could be forthcoming, Bottas was not so sure. "It'll probably help overtaking a little bit," Russell told media, including RacingNews365.com. "Because the old layout is such a slow-speed corner, you can only get so close and then the guy puts his foot down and disappears." For his part, while saying he preferred the new layout due to the "last sector having a bit more flow", Bottas was not so sure about overtaking being boosted. "It's going to be difficult to follow in the last corner, it is just faster, but I don't think it will improve the overtaking," he explained. "It's slightly bumpy, a bit of movement which makes it more challenging, but it's quite a cool corner. "It's super high-speed, so definitely a bit more challenging, but also it feels [like] the tyres are going through quite [a lot] through those two corners."
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