• Canadian Grand Prix

'We need to improve the pure pace of the car' - Alonso

Ferrari's qualifying performances have improved at recent races but Fernando Alonso has not yet started from pole position © Sutton Images

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• Race:
• Canadian Grand Prix

• Drivers:
• Fernando Alonso

• Teams:
• Ferrari

Fernando Alonso says Ferrari needs to improve its qualifying pace to remain competitive this season.

He currently leads the drivers' championship by three points despite Ferrari struggling to get the most from its car at the start of the season. At recent races Ferrari has introduced updates aimed at solving the major flaws with the F2012, but Alonso says there is still work to do over one lap.

"We need to improve the pure pace of the car," he said on Thursday. "On Sundays we are normally a little bit more competitive and we take advantage of the experience of the team and the talent from the team in terms of preparation for the race, the start and the strategies. But we know we are not fast enough, especially on Saturday when we are all in the same conditions with low fuel and new tyres and we are struggling to be in Q3 sometimes and we are not anywhere close to pole position.

"We are leading the championship, but it is something that we cannot maintain if we are not quick enough or are not the fastest on the track. It's something that we need to look to move forward and hopefully here in Canada we will see another step forward from the team and we will be close again to the top guys. We will not know until after qualifying."

There have been six different winners in the first six races this season, putting a premium on consistent points scoring, but Alonso warned that any team could make a step ahead in the development race and start dominating.

"I think we can see a seventh different winner here," Alonso said. "Lewis [Hamilton] sooner or later will win a race, Michael [Schumacher] can also do well here in Canada especially, [Kimi] Raikkonen, [Romain] Grosjean... Sure there will be a different winner again soon, whether it is here in Canada or soon after. This is good for the championship and good for those that are consistent, but if one team makes a step forward and dominates for two or three races then it's not enough just to be consistent."

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