Fernando Alonso says he has to start scoring big points again in order to keep his title challenge on track.
Alonso finished only seventh in Monaco, and with a couple of other bad races behind him, he is losing touch with leader Sebastian Vettel.
“We were hoping for some consistent results,” said Alonso in Canada on Thursday. “But in Monaco we did not pick up so many points, so now we need four or five races on the podium or at least very near the podium in order to recover some of the points we have lost.
“All the races are different and unique, and this weekend will be a tricky one with the weather conditions. Anything can happen especially in the wet. And we saw in qualifying in Monaco that when the rain came, it was chaotic. It means that if you are not on track at the end if the track is drying, or if you have a problem with a yellow flag or you make a small mistake, then you are out.
“So it will be a case of maximum concentration to do well here and also in the coming races, at Silverstone, Germany and Hungary. So every Thursday it will be a case of saying the same thing, ‘We must score good points.’”
Alonso pointed out that he has had his far share of bad luck already in 2013.
“We have had some unlucky situations this year, like when I had a slight touch in Malaysia, which put me out of the race, while we have seen, for example, Hamilton and Vettel touching in Barcelona and they were both able to continue.
“However, in Monaco it was simply a case of not having the pace. At this stage of the season, we have two more points than last year, when we were leading the championship, so in a way we are doing a little bit better than last year.
What is not so normal is the amount of points Vettel has scored in the past six races — a lot!
“We need to try and finish in front of him, because everyone has bad luck at some point, and it will come to him, as well. Kimi had his bad luck in Monaco with the accident, so that we are now only five points behind him.”
Meanwhile Alonso admitted that Montreal is not easy to get right.
“It’s true we’ve never had really great results here," he said. "Some of the inconsistency was down to strange circumstances, but it’s a circuit that’s a little bit tricky to understand, as it changes all through the weekend — not just the surface but also the wind can change a lot, which affects your braking points, plus there is no room for mistakes, just like at a street circuit with the walls so close. But, hopefully, this year we can do a bit better.”
