We've had two near collisions in RA this year, and I spent a lot of hours coming up with circuit measurements types of aircraft, where the aircraft should be, how to navigate to the airfied, join the circuit, fit into the pattern with the other aircraft there, where to look etc. No one has made an effort to try a trial circuit and comment on it and the people who haven't been trained in PPL Nav should have.
If you're on mid-downwind as I have been on hundreds of occasions you will have been watching traffic in the circuit ahead of you and maybe one who went on an expedition and his base will be so long that you'll be turning final before he gets to base. At that point you're only looking at half the circuit (you've already made sure you've left a good margin in fron of the Baron that's coming behind you to allow for the jockying that's about to start. At mid downwind you pull on 1 stage of flap and 90 kts; your job now is to hang in the air behind the aircraft ahead of you until he clears the runway and you can land. If you're catching up, more flap, nose up, more power etc to slow down. Once on Final you watch every aircraft so you're actually seeing who's holding who up. On Final you hang in there until you are sure you can touch down AFTER the aircraft in front of you vacates the circuit. I've landed with five aircraft in front of me on Final just be being patient; every second one had to ground. So the answer to your question is that in the case of congenstion you'll be going round, effectively starting a new circuit so you won't have to spear off somewhere. The case I've described is where there are normally 10 to 12 in the circuit and where the pilots are all experienced with the continuous loop of aircraft.
Where you're flying with two or three others in the circuit I accept it's hard to bring yourself up to speed, but you can still train yourself to follow the next one maintaining the same gap all the way down and be ready for the busy airport.