Alonso praised for his willpower: "You can't keep the man down"

Fernando Alonso started the Canadian Grand Prix from a great second place on the grid, but it was a race to forget for the Spaniard. Former Formula 1 driver Martin Brundle expressed his admiration for the driver, who is still 'a bundle of competitive energy'.

Brundle regretted the disappointing result for Alonso, who initially had a very strong weekend. He was unable to attack Max Verstappen in the first corner, but the Alpine driver was able to hold off Carlos Sainz's attacks. However, in the end was unable to hold off the Ferrari of his fellow countryman.

Later, Alonso lost time due to an engine problem, but the timing of the virtual safety cars also went badly for him. To make matters worse, he was also given a time penalty for stepping off the line too often in a fight with Valtteri Bottas, which saw him drop from seventh to ninth place.

Brundle praised the Spaniard for his strong performance on Saturday and his relentless willpower. "Fernando was the star of qualifying by constantly being fast and ending up on the front row of the grid to much applause," he said in his column for Sky Sports. "You can't keep the man down, he's a bundle of competitive energy." The Briton is therefore saddened that bad luck prevented Alonso from achieving a strong result on Sunday.