Alonso thinks RBR still pole favourite

Alonso was quickest in this afternoon's session in Montreal, ahead of Sebastian Vettel's Red Bull.

"We did not concentrate on the times or anything, so it is always positive to see yourself in the first four or five positions, but today is not really important," said Alonso.

"We also topped the practice in Monaco and then in qualifying Vettel was one second quicker than us - we know tomorrow is the day to put everything into it and we know Red Bull will be very strong and probably the favourite.

"And also the rain is forecast, tomorrow it is supposed to rain and especially Sunday so all the job we did today is maybe just for practice because everything can change for tomorrow. We will stay focused and get ready for a change."

After trying DRS at the track in practice, Alonso believes the new innovation of a second activation zone will be very effective.

"If it is dry the opportunities to overtake are much more than they are in the past, and this will probably be one of the greatest circuits to use the DRS," he said. "You should have a fun race to watch."

Today's practice sessions saw four accidents and three red flags. Alonso reckoned the combination of the faster-wearing Pirellis and the usual Montreal track conditions are set to cause plenty of incident throughout the weekend.

"At the end of the session you put on the super soft tyre and you've done already 30 to 40 laps of the track so you try to be a little bit close to the walls to take a bit more kerb, and this is Canada - any little mistake puts you in the wall," he said.

"We see the accidents normally at the end of runs, the tyres were already a little degraded - we saw Vettel crash after a 12-lap run and these other cars were with old tyres. So we know the combination of Pirelli is not easy to drive when they degrade, plus the Canada circuit is a good combination - nice to watch and a bit risky for us."