Q3 in Canada marks 'an amazing job' - Alonso

McLaren has done "an amazing job" over the past 12 months to be able to reach Q3 at the Canadian Grand Prix, according to Fernando Alonso.

A Honda-powered McLaren only reached the final part of qualifying for the first time at this year's Spanish Grand Prix, with Alonso following that result up with another appearance in Q3 in Monaco. Despite the emphasis put on the power unit in Canada, Alonso again made it through to the final session on Saturday and was full of praise for the team's improvement.

"Definitely, very happy, we did an amazing job with the car in 12 months and we are in a position now that is better than we expected," Alonso said. "I think we have to say thanks to everyone in the team.

"Today in Q2 we were ahead of one Force India in Canada which is something which was difficult to imagine a couple of months ago. We were four-tenths behind Ferrari so that is something that pushes everyone in the factory and boost everyone in terms of motivation. Hopefully we keep this development."

While Alonso is wary of setting expectations too high for Sunday's race, he does believe McLaren will be able to challenge the likes of Williams and Force India on many occasions this season.

"It depends on the circuit layout. Here we are a little bit more concerned about our pace in the race, our fuel saving for tomorrow so let’s say we will have better opportunities than tomorrow. But who knows? There is some forecast for some rain for tomorrow so maybe that will help our package and our level of pace.

"We are ready for any opportunity and to fight. We are here for any opportunity. There is nothing to lose, we are not fighting for any world championships so it is maximum attack again."

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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.