After spending the last two weeks in Indianapolis as he tried his hand at Indy car racing in the famous Indy 500, Fernando Alonso will return to his ‘day job' behind the wheel of his McLaren Honda F1 contender for this weekend's Canadian Grand Prix.
“It's good to be heading back to Canada – it feels like I've spent a lot of time in North America recently!” he said. “The Indy 500 was an incredible experience and it's been amazing to learn a completely different style of driving, on a different circuit layout and with a very different car, but I'm ready to get back to my ‘day job' and go racing in F1 again.”
The Canadian Grand Prix will be celebrating its 50th anniversary this year. The race first took place at Mosport in August 1967, after which it switched to Mont Tremblant and then its current home on the Ile Notre-Dame, Montreal, in 1978 – a race that was won by Quebecois Gilles Villeneuve. The track was re-named the Circuit Gilles Villeneuve after his death in 1982 and it is a venue that Alonso has always enjoyed…
“I've always enjoyed the Canadian Grand Prix. The circuit is unique in that it's very demanding on both the car and driver, so it's a real racer's track. While I was in Indy I was still keeping up-to-date with the news from Monaco, and Stoffel and Jenson both reported positively on the new upgrades and reliability, so I hope we can continue to see a step forward in Canada,” he explained.
“The layout of the Circuit Gilles Villeneuve means it's very power-limited and therefore dependent on straight-line speed and power. It's not going to suit our car as much as the twisty, slower corners of Monaco, but I'm excited to get back in the MCL32, catch up with the guys and girls in the team and get back out on track – not only turning left this time!”
