• Canadian Grand Prix

Second feels like a win - Alonso

Red Bull secured victory but Fernando Alonso was happy with second © Sutton Images

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• Race:
• Canadian Grand Prix

• Drivers:
• Fernando Alonso

• Teams:
• Ferrari

Fernando Alonso says second place in the Canadian Grand Prix feels like a victory after a tricky weekend.

While Sebastian Vettel was able to convert pole position in to victory and extend his championship lead, Alonso climbed through from sixth on the grid to finish second with a late overtake of Lewis Hamilton. Having to start further back on the grid and make a number of moves on track, Alonso said he got the best result he could realistically hope for.

"Yesterday obviously we didn't have a good qualifying; I didn't put a lap together and the conditions didn't help," Alonso said. "But we knew the pace of the car in dry conditions on Friday was good so we had some hopes. Obviously we are fighting with top drivers and I had a very good fight with Mark [Webber], with Nico [Rosberg] and with Lewis at the end.

"It's not easy even if you have a little bit more pace they are super talented ones and it was a difficult race. In the end I think this second place has a victory taste because we scored some good points after a very difficult weekend."

With Kimi Raikkonen only scoring two points, Alonso said Ferrari had done all it could from sixth place and would have to look at improving its qualifying pace.

"I'm happy. Obviously we want to finish in front of our main competitors in the championship. With Sebastian we couldn't do it today but he did pole position, he did a very dominant race so we just need to congratulate him and do a better job next time. With Kimi we managed to score many points and he didn't, but we need to improve, especially qualifying, if we start up in the front with Sebastian we can fight a little bit closer."

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