Fernando Alonso: I don't owe anyone anything to prove.

      Twenty years ago, Fernando Alonso won the Canadian Grand Prix driving a Renault on his way to his second championship title, but he has stood on the podium in Montreal three more times. Twice while racing for Ferrari, and once in 2023 with Aston Martin.

      However, this season his team has found itself in a crisis situation, so now Alonso and his Canadian teammate Lance Stroll are forced to accept that the AMR26 car doesn't even allow them to make it into the second part of qualifying. With the joint efforts of Honda's engine suppliers, the team is trying to tackle the issues, and some progress has already been made, but the two-time world champion is taking the situation philosophically.

      "I don't owe anyone anything," the Spanish newspaper Marca quotes him as saying. "I don't need to prove anything to myself. I already know that I perform at the highest level, and I'm just waiting for the opportunity to demonstrate that. I know it's just a matter of time before I have a faster car at my disposal.

      I haven't lost my composure or concentration. I've raced in other categories and tested other cars. I'll only start to worry if I'm no longer the fastest. But for now, I remain the fastest—both in a GT car and on the karting track.

      And now, when Aston Martin is not among the top teams, I see racing simply as a continuation of training. We need to gradually achieve improvements. In this regard, the ADUO program will help us because we need investments, additional time for conducting bench tests, but we also need to find the right approaches to understand the reasons why we are lacking power and reliability this year.

      We need to improve the situation both with reliability and drivability. We must work on the gearbox to ensure it operates normally both when shifting to higher gears and downshifting. Engine braking also needs attention. All these factors affect confidence when cornering, but they only allow us to gain half a tenth of a second. And we need to improve by two or three seconds."

      This Sunday, Fernando Alonso will start at the Canadian track for the 21st time.