Fernando Alonso thinks a points finish could be on the table for McLaren in Canada after qualifying 13th, which he believes was the maximum possible.
McLaren endured a tough day in Spain, with both Alonso and Jenson Button requiring an engine change. Unlike Button, Alonso's change did not rule him out of qualifying as it had been completed before the end of FP3.
Alonso qualified 14th but will start 13th after Max Verstappen serves his 15-place grid penalty and, even though the high-speed Montreal circuit does not suit Honda, Alonso is confident he can challenge for a spot in the top ten on Sunday.
"I think Canada always offers some nice races and some action, some safety cars and reliability issues for everybody - it's a very demanding circuit," Alonso said. "So I think starting P13, the points could be available for us at one point in the race so we will try to do something.
"It's the best qualifying position we could probably do today, except with Max's penalty for tomorrow. After a very difficult day for team, this morning they were very busy with my engine change and the disappointment of starting only one car in qualifying, it's the best news of the day - the P13 - but hopefully tomorrow we can have a much better day with a smooth race and both cars finish without problems."
With a top-speed deficit expected tomorrow, Alonso thinks McLaren will need to start thinking cleverly from the pit wall to achieve his ambition of points.
"I think that will our biggest handicap tomorrow. The top speed and straights will be our main limitation so let's try to think something clever in terms of strategy, in terms of tyre management to compensate a little bit."
Reflecting on Honda's double reliability woe, Alonso said: "I think we are all aware of the lack of performance and of reliability - these are two different issues. I think the team is doing all we can to fix the issues. Some of the parts we've reinforced for this race, they've been working fine without problems. The parts that we broke this weekend are some of the part that are a little bit quite high mileage. But these are the limits of the Formula One cars but for sure we need to make the car faster, and stronger and as smooth as possible."