Spaniard reaches the top ten in third successive qualy hour
Monday 13 June 2016 12:09, UK
Fernando Alonso admitted he had a tow from team-mate Jenson Button in Q2 to thank for qualifying 10th at the Canadian Grand Prix.
Alonso followed Button down the back straight in Montreal and used his slipstream to reach Q3 for the third successive race.
Button was first to point out his team-mate's advantage and Alonso later acknowledged that the tow had been worth as much as two tenths of a second.
Button, who qualified 12th, said: "I didn't get a tow down the back straight and Fernando did; he got a tow off me. Up until the last sector it was looking pretty good, but then I lost out because I didn't get the tow."
Alonso added: "The tow is one tenth and a half or two tenths, and we saw in the Free Practice and Qualifying One that two tenths is maybe even five places here, so I took a good tow in the last run and that was enough to go into Q3, so thanks to him."
Alonso was pleasantly surprised to qualify 10th given McLaren's struggle for straight-line speed on fast tracks such as the Circuit Gilles Villeneuve.
But he is under no illusions that another shock result will be tougher to come by in the race itself.
The former world champion said: "It was a nice surprise today to be in Q3. In this circuit, we didn't expect to be competitive, so it's a nice gift and we will see tomorrow.
"We have the feet on the ground, even if we are in Q3. Our straight-line speed is quite bad here, so we expect difficulties when we are in a battle with other cars, so that could be a big penalty, but also there is a lot of fuel-saving to do, in our case even more than the others because of the time we spend on the straight.
"Our package is more competitive on the corners and the slower circuits than Canada, so these long straights and big accelerations are not welcome for the power unit we have right now."
McLaren are seeking a fourth consecutive top-10 finish this weekend and Alonso identified a third successive appearance in Q3 as further evidence of the team's progress this season.
He added: "It's a nice surprise to be competitive, but there will be some more races that we will be even more so. It's a good sign of where we are going and the direction the car is taking,
"The new turbo could be a benefit in the race. Not so much in qualifying, but in the race you spend a little bit more time with deployment.
"Everything is a little bit more sensible now than 12 months ago, so let's keep going like that."
