• Canadian Grand Prix

Canada will suit Ferrari - Alonso

Fernando Alonso: "It's clear that we must try to find a catalyst for this title chase in terms of points" © Getty Images

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Fernando Alonso is confident the Circuit Gilles Villeneuve, which will host this weekend's Canadian Grand Prix, will play to the strengths of his Ferrari.

Alonso finished second at the Monaco Grand Prix two weeks ago, his best performance of the season, and expects to be competitive again in Montreal.

"Even though it has some very fast stretches, the Canadian track suits cars which can jump over the kerbs without losing too much balance and cars that have good traction on the exits of the slow corners," he said. "Those are both characteristics that are among the strong points of the 150° Italia. Here aerodynamic efficiency, which is our Achilles Heel at the moment, is less important and so we think we can have more chance to fight for the top places.

"The second third of the season is starting and the situation in the championship is far from favourable. It's true that there are still many races to go but it's clear that we must try to find a catalyst for this title chase in terms of points. We hope to start straightaway, on a track that carries the name of one of the drivers who is most loved by Ferrari's tifosi: Gilles Villeneuve. "

So far this year, the Ferrari has been more competitive on the softer Pirelli tyres that will be in use this weekend and Alonso is convinced tyre strategy will be a key factor in Sunday's race.

"In Montreal we will again have the two soft tyre compounds prepared by Pirelli: the Soft and the Supersoft," he said. "Last year this was one of the few races in which we saw more pit stops than the traditional one-stop because the degradation of the tyres is quite high.

"Even though the Pirellis are different to the Bridgestones, I don't think we will see anyone manage to get to the end of the race with only one tyre change, as we saw in Monaco. As we have seen this year, it will be important to pick the right moment for the pit stop so as not to lose too much time compared to your direct rivals."

Alonso is also looking forward to making the most of the double DRS zone at Montreal.

"For the first time this year we will have two places where it will be possible to use the DRS on Sunday: the first is after the apex of Turn 10, the second on the pit straight," he added. "I'm interested to see what will happen: on paper whoever manages to pass in the first zone will then have a big advantage because they will be able to use the movable wing again on the main straight, even though they are ahead of the car they are battling."

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