Alonso backing team-mate to hit form
Fernando Alonso has called on Renault team-mate Giancarlo Fisichella to help him win the world championship after admitting McLaren hold the upper hand in this weekend’s Canadian Grand Prix.
Alonso was gifted victory and a 32-point championship cushion when McLaren’s Kimi Raikkonen crashed out of the lead at the Nurburgring two weeks ago.
That race marked the fourth consecutive grand prix to be dominated by McLaren, but retirements at Imola and the Nurburgring mean Raikkonen and his team have won just twice in that time.
Alonso concedes McLaren are again likely to be the team to beat in Montreal this weekend and he wants help from Fisichella to keep Raikkonen at bay.
The Spaniard said: “I think McLaren are a little bit stronger than us in terms of the car and how competitive they are.
“But this circuit has always been quite good for Renault so hopefully we can be closer, it is a good opportunity for us to do well.
“It is very important that your team-mate scores many points, especially for the constructors’ championship.
“He had some bad luck in Imola and Bahrain with two retirements but in other races he has done a good job scoring points even with bad luck.
“I think Giancarlo will be on the podium many times this year and it will be a help for me and the team.”
Fisichella is ready to rise to the challenge and is determined to earn his keep at Renault.
The Italian returned to the team after a three-season absence over the winter and celebrated in style with victory in round one in Australia.
But since then he has suffered three retirements, restricting him to just 17 points to Alonso’s 59.
Jarno Trulli left Renault last year complaining Alonso, who is managed by team boss Flavio Braitore, was given preferential treatment and the Italian media had suggested Fisichella was suffering a similar plight.
But the 32-year-old was determined to set the record straight, insisting he has simply been unlucky at a team he ranks as the best of his Formula One career.
He said: “It is just bad luck, 100% bad luck. The team is pushing with both drivers to get more points for the constructors’ championship so it is in their interests more than mine for me to be ahead and score points.
“In the last few races we have had a lot of problems with mechanical trouble but it was just bad luck.
“I really feel comfortable in Renault, all the mechanics and the engineers are really nice with me and they are pushing for me to get back to winning.
“I feel confident on this circuit. For sure I have had some luck here so I am really looking forward to Sunday, I want to be on the podium and obviously I would like to win the race.”
Just a year ago Renault were embroiled in a tight battle with BAR-Honda for second place in the championship but their respective fortunes have differed since the end of 2004.
Jenson Button and BAR arrived in Montreal without a single point to their name, compared to 76 for Renault, but the Englishman is upbeat and expects an improvement in tomorrow’s race.
The 25-year-old, who was way off the pace two weeks ago on BAR’s return from a two-race ban, said: “I think McLaren is a quick car and we are probably about 0.8 seconds away from them if not more. We knew that coming here. We knew we were not on Renault or McLaren pace.
“It’s nice to see that our pace is a little bit better. The great thing is we did some good long runs in practice – that was something we struggled with at Nurburgring in the race.
“Our race pace was not so good so it’s nice to get some laps in and feel that the car is quite consistent. We are a lot closer to the front than we were in the Nurburgring.”
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