Alonso 'should have won'

Symonds made the bold claim in the run-up to this weekend's US Grand Prix at Indianapolis, blaming the botched first pitstop, regardless of the technical failure that ultimately put the Spaniard out of the race, for the reason his pace wasn't more apparent. The stop cost him nearly an extra 10secs, and he was only 7secs behind Schumacher when he went out.

"Obviously, we were bitterly disappointed to have experienced our first double retirement of the year in Canada, as I felt we lost the opportunity for our best result of the year," said Symonds. "Without his car failure and the delay at his first stop, Fernando could well have led the race from Michael to the end, while we can only assume Jarno would have performed better thanks to his higher grid position.

"But what might have been does not count in motor racing. We are confident that the problems experienced in Canada will be resolved for this weekend. Consequently, the team will be looking to re-establish our reliability record and translate our current good form into a strong haul of championship points."

Symonds is upbeat about the Anglo-French team's chance in this weekend's Indianapolis event, and thinks the circuit should play into the R24's strengths.

"There is no reason to think the team will not be strong at Indianapolis," he said. "The circuit essentially demands good top speed down the straight, and then plenty of grip through the slow corners and under traction.

"In those respects, it is quite similar to Montreal, and we demonstrated there that we could run with competitive top speeds, while still performing well during the traction events exiting the slow corners. Equally, the cars operate well in slow corners with low downforce."