Alonso encouraged by Ferrari recovery

The Spaniard finished third behind the two McLarens, but had been ahead of both at different stages, only for Lewis Hamilton to slip through when both were trying to pass the yet-to-pit Sebastien Buemi, and Jenson Button to pounce when Alonso was caught behind Karun Chandhok's Hispania.

However Alonso said he was still buoyed by the fact that Ferrari was back on the pace following its poor performance in Turkey, and took that as a sign that he could now be a bigger factor in the title battle even though he lost out in Montreal.

"I think it was a good day for us, the car was very competitive here in Canada," said Alonso. "I had a good opportunity to win today, fighting with Lewis, we overtook him with a fantastic job in the pitlane.

"We lost position with traffic and then lost another position - we lost 10 points with those from 25 to 15. But it was a great recovery for the championship, we were 50 seconds behind McLaren in Turkey and fighting for the win here. We are moving in right direction here and I think we are back in the fight.

"We were really close, we had some good fights and it was a good feeling for me to come back in a position to win the race, and being on the podium."