Alonso returns to F1 action in Canada - briefly

Fernando Alonso is back in the Formula 1 paddock in Montreal this weekend, after missing the Monaco Grand Prix to race in the Indianapolis 500.

Alonso's strong run in the iconic Indy 500 was cut short by an engine failure. And on his return to Grand Prix racing, there was a familiar feeling for the Spanish driver in Free Practice 1.

The two-time world champion completed only limited shakedown laps during the first half of the 90-minute session. He finally put in his first flying lap with 20 minutes remaining.

However he reported a problem with the steering over the team radio, saying that it felt heavy. The team diagnosed a loss of hydraulic pressure and ordered him to park the MCL32 immediately by the track at the hairpin.

Engine providers Honda said that the failure had been down to "an unknown cause at the moment" and that they would look into the matter before the start of second practice on Friday afternoon.

Hamilton leads Vettel in first practice in Canada

"We are used to it," Alonso told Sky Sports F1 as he arrived back in the pit lane. "FP1 is done, FP2 is hopefully trouble free and we get some practice.

"We will deliver," he insisted. "When qualifying and the race arrives we will be there.

"It's not a problem, we have good experience here," he said. "We know the track, it plays in our favour."

Alonso said that the delay in putting in a flying lap was partially down to needing to reacclimatising after his stint racing on superspeedways at over 220mph.

"It's difficult to switch back from Indy to here," he said. "First laps [I was] trying to get the feel from the car again."

Alonso had been in the top ten when his engine failed 21 laps from the end of the race. His Andretti Autosport stable mate Takuma Sato, a former Formula 1 driver himself, went on to win the race.

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Andrew Lewin

Andrew first became a fan of Formula 1 during the time when Michael Schumacher and Damon Hill were stepping into the limelight after the era of Alain Prost, Nigel Mansell and Aryton Senna. He's been addicted ever since, and has been writing about the sport now for nearly a quarter of a century for a number of online news sites. He's also written professionally about GP2 (now Formula 2), GP3, IndyCar, World Rally Championship, MotoGP and NASCAR. In his other professional life, Andrew is a freelance writer, social media consultant, web developer/programmer, and digital specialist in the fields of accessibility, usability, IA, online communities and public sector procurement. He worked for many years in magazine production at Bauer Media, and for over a decade he was part of the digital media team at the UK government's communications department. Born and raised in Essex, Andrew currently lives and works in south-west London.