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F1 Canadian GP: Alonso: I’m ready to get back to my day job

Fernando Alonso says he's prepared for his Formula One return after his maiden Indianapolis 500 outing as he returns to the McLaren-Honda fold in Canada.

Alonso made shockwaves across the motorsport world with his impressive rookie Indy 500 effort having led the third-highest number of laps of any driver before his Honda engine suffered a mechanical fault 21 laps from the finish for McLaren-Honda-Andretti.

Having skipped the Monaco Grand Prix in order to take on the Indy 500, with Jenson Button acting as his stand-in, Alonso is now relishing his return to F1 action at Circuit Gilles Villeneuve this weekend for the 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!" Alonso 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."

After catching up on the latest updates on the McLaren-Honda from Monaco, and those expected for Canada, Alonso is hopefully for performance gains with the MCL32 but is bracing for a tough race weekend at the power unit-dependent circuit.

"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," he said. "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.

"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!"

Zdroj: crash.net