Alonso expects Ferrari and Renault to challenge in Montreal

World champion Fernando Alonso says he is determined to win this weekend's Canadian Grand Prix to atone for the mistake he made at the race last year.

The Spaniard crashed while leading in 2005, his only mistake all season.

"Canada was one of the races on my to-do list this year," said Alonso, who has won the last three races.

"I have never finished on the podium there, and that was one of my goals for 2006. So I will be really pushing to get a strong result there."

Alonso is in a commanding position in the title chase with a 23-point lead over Ferrari's Michael Schumacher.

But the Renault star, who has won five of this year's eight races, said there was no question of starting to ease off and drive for points instead of victories.

"Definitely not," he said. "The season is not even at the halfway stage yet and, in Ferrari, we have very strong competition.

"Last year, we were fighting against teams who had reliability problems, but that won't happen with Ferrari.

"They will be there at every race and very strong in Canada as well.

"So we are still attacking, still being aggressive, putting new parts on the car and trying to push the limits at every race.

"That's the only approach we can afford to take this season."

Alonso said he expected Renault to be very strong on Montreal's Gilles Villeneuve circuit, which features long straights punctuated by tight chicanes and is always slippery.

"In the past few years, this has always been a very good circuit for the Renault car.

"I didn't finish in 2005 or 2004, but we were very quick in both races, and I set the fastest lap in 2003. It will be a good track for us, I think."