12/06/2017
NEWS STORY
Another day, another retirement.
And while McLaren team boss Eric Boullier, took the emotive route, describing Honda's latest failure as "gut-wrenching" and "simply, and absolutely, not good enough", Fernando Alonso took a more pragmatic approach questioning the risk of a car that is as much as 16 mph down on its rivals.
Despite the Spaniard's best efforts, his heroics in battling to pass cars and also hanging on to the exhaust pipes of those that had passed him, his efforts in Canada came to nought, the two-time world champion suffering another engine failure just three laps from what looked set to be his (and McLaren's) first points finish of the season.
"The race itself was already hard enough given the lack of power," said the Spaniard after the race. "They were passing us in the middle of the straights and sometimes it was even dangerous with such a speed difference.
"It is not only that we lost a point today and we lost another race," he continued, "we will start last in Baku because Jenson changed the power unit in Monaco and started last. Here we lost a power unit and in Baku we will start last again. The situation is definitely not nice."
Despite the continued trials and tribulations however, Alonso who has won over a whole new legion of fans with his Indy 500 exploits, further endeared himself to the public - and no doubt Liberty media - with his post-retirement exploits.
Heading towards the grandstand to throw his gloves to the crowd, the Spaniard walked up into the stand to mingle with the fans.
"I hoped to give the gloves to the guys there but the grandstand was too far away so I thought it will not get there if I throw the gloves," he revealed. "So I thought I'd go up and throw the gloves, but once I was there I nearly couldn't leave.
"We have so much support from the fans here every time we come to Canada so I felt I should give something back."