Canadian GP: Fernando Alonso relieved to race 'intelligent' rivals

The Ferrari driver came through from sixth on the grid to second in Montreal, enjoying very close battles with Nico Rosberg, Mark Webber and in particular Lewis Hamilton along the way.

In Monaco Alonso had been passed by Sergio Perez and Adrian Sutil, and he said he had been much more comfortable with the Canada dices.

"It was nice to have these battles, a big race with some talented drivers," he said.

"Intelligent drivers that you fight wheel-to-wheel with at 320km/h and you feel safe.

"This is real racing so I am very happy to see this back after Monaco, which was a little bit different."

Although title battle Sebastian Vettel took the win, Alonso said he could not be downcast having qualified further back and struggling the previous race.

"This second place has a victory taste because we scored some good points after a difficult weekend," he said.

The Spaniard was also calm about the 36-point lead Vettel has now opened out over him.

"When we are 85 points behind that will be a critical situation," he said. "In the last six years people have been recovering 30-40 points [deficits]."