Ericsson: 2017 F1 cars will produce more "pure" overtaking

After sampling their new wider and faster machines this week in Barcelona testing, several drivers have already expressed fears that overtaking will become harder owing to the increase in downforce.

Lewis Hamilton advised last week for fans to not "hold their breath" for good racing in 2017, saying the turbulence was "easily twice as powerful" when following another car.

Ericsson, however, believes the new rules could lead to more "exciting" overtaking, and fewer "DRS on the motorway" style passes that have been frequent in the sport in recent years.

"I think there's still going to be overtaking, maybe not as much overtaking, I'm pretty sure," he said when asked by Motorsport.com about the possibility of passing with the new cars.

"But for me, the last couple of years there's been a lot of overtaking, but maybe not the most exciting overtaking, because it's been DRS on the straight and overtaking.

"I think now maybe there will be less overtaking, but more pure overtakes than the DRS pass on the motorway overtakes. If I watch a race, I prefer to see one good battle than 10 DRS passes on the straight.

"We have to wait and see how it works out in the races, but I still believe it's going to be possible to overtake."

The Swedish driver also thinks Pirelli's more durable 2017 tyres will improve the spectacle by ensuring drivers don't have to back off in the heat of battle to stop their tyres from overheating.

"For me, there's a lot more scope for pushing the tyres, and I think that will make the races a bit different, you'll be more on the attack," he added.

"Maybe in the last couple of years sometimes you haven't taken the fight, because you know you have a long stint ahead of you, whereas now the tyres are less sensitive to overheating,

"You can be really aggressive on the throttle for a lap and the grip is still there. Whereas last year's compound, if you were having wheelspin for a lap, fighting someone, you knew [you would] maybe never recover the tyres because they were going to be overheated."