Returning Alonso says Montreal won’t suit McLaren

2017 Canadian Grand Prix

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Fernando Alonso doesn’t expect the Circuit Gilles Villeneuve in Montreal to suit his McLaren as he returns to Formula One following his Indianapolis 500 bid.

“It feels like I’ve spent a lot of time in North America recently,” said Alonso, who missed the Monaco Grand Prix to compete in IndyCar’s blue riband event.

“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.”

“While I was in Indy I was still keeping up-to-date with the news from Monaco, and Stoffel [Vandoorne] and Jenson [Button] both reported positively on the new upgrades and reliability, so I hope we can continue to see a step forward in Canada.”

Alonso said the Montreal circuit is a “real racer’s track” but admitted its long straights are likely to put his McLaren-Honda at a disadvantage.

“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.”

Honda F1 project chief Yusuke Hasegawa said the “power-hungry, demanding track will not play to our strengths” and agreed it “will no doubt be another challenging race weekend for us”.

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    Keith Collantine
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    16 comments on “Returning Alonso says Montreal won’t suit McLaren”

    1. Theres no track that suits them on the calendar but great to see Alonso being positive about returning to his McLaren Honda. Not that i think its his true feelings but keep smiling Fernando.

      1. nelson piquet
        5th June 2017, 17:21

        monaco suited them but the drivers performed embarrassingly horrible

        1. Or monaco was the least bad track for their car. Monaco doesn’t really suit for cars with less power. The tight twisty monaco just makes the lack of power issue less important.

    2. Thus he actually said that only Monaco suits their car.
      They didn’t really ‘make the most of that’. Ouch.

    3. This quote has to win the internet today:

      Honda F1 project chief Yusuke Hasegawa said the “power-hungry, demanding track will not play to our strengths”

      .. I mean as an engine supplier, if power is not your strength, what is?

      1. @fletchuk Who needs power from the engine when you’ve got the power of dreams?

        1. @mashiat Ahh that makes sense now. Clearly he meant that the Circuit Gilles Villeneuve does not suit engines powered by dreams alone.

          1. @fletchuk Based on the past 2.5 years, it’s not only the Circuit Gilles Villeneuve

        2. Fukobayashi (@)
          6th June 2017, 9:35

          @mashiat COTD! lol

      2. .. I mean as an engine supplier, if power is not your strength, what is?

        Eh.. reliability? Ow wait…

      3. Drivability

        1. LMAO @ Clutching at straws

      4. @fletchuk, well, fuel efficiency, the usability of the torque curve, reliability, weight distribution, cooling requirements – there are a lot of areas where factors other than peak power can be extremely important. There have been quite a few instances in the past where engines that were not the most powerful outright had a combination of other traits that meant that they were the best engine overall.

    4. If only Honda were allowed to use their Indy Car engine…….oh wait.

    5. CanadianJosh
      5th June 2017, 20:56

      Back to reality Fernando!

    6. Formula 1 really doesn’t really suit McLaren Honda anymore.. I don’t think we should focus on just the Canadian GP.

    Comments are closed.