Alonso aiming for "aggressive" Canadian GP target

Fernando Alonso says he and Aston Martin are aiming to achieve team owner Lawrence Stroll's target of a double podium finish at this weekend's Canadian Grand Prix in Montreal.

After a strong start to 2023, Aston Martin currently sit third in the Constructors' Championship with 134, with Alonso having scored all five of the team's podium finishes so far.

Pressed on whether both he and teammate Lance Stroll – son of Lawrence – could make it into the top three in Sunday's race, Alonso said that was the aim.

"You never know, but it is an aggressive target for the weekend," Alonso told media, including RacingNews365.com.

"But we know Lawrence, [his] ambition is super high, always, and we will try to make him happy and proud in the home Grand Prix."

Alonso hails Lance Stroll commitment, ability

Alonso also talked up the ability of Lance Stroll in the other car, despite the Canadian having only 35 points in the Drivers' Championship to Alonso's 35.

Moving from Williams to the then-Racing Point in 2019, Stroll has been outscored by every teammate he has had at the Silverstone outfit, but with his father as the team owner, his place looks secure for the foreseeable future.

The Canadian also faced a race against time to be fit in time for the start of this season, after injuring his wrists in a bicycle accident and being forced to miss all of pre-season testing.

Alonso said Stroll's swift return reflected well on his commitment and desire, and said it was only a matter of time before the Canadian would become one of F1's top drivers.

"I think Lance is showing the speed in the car, the commitment, we saw at the beginning of the year as well, racing with a broken hand and things like that," said Alonso.

"You only see [that] when you really have passion for something that you're doing, and I think, for him, the most important thing now is to get the consistency weekend after weekend.

"We saw many times in the past, sparks of Lance, in wet qualifying, in races, at the starts, lap one performance, these kinds of things that are outstanding.

"And then, some other weekends that the result was not coming or you get in a bad loop in Qualifying, so something like that, and then the weekend is a little bit compromised.

"So, I think that consistency is going to be the next step in his career, to be constantly fighting for the top five and then at the end of the year, you see the amount of points that you gain when you get all the weekends right.

"But as I said, with the motivation, the commitment that he has, and the team that Aston Martin is building now, I think it's a matter of time that this will come."