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Alonso chasing Monaco
Fernando Alonso is looking to make up for missing out on victory in his home Spanish Grand Prix.
World championship leader Fernando Alonso is looking to make up for missing out on victory in his home Spanish Grand Prix by winning Formula One's jewel in the crown race at Monaco on Sunday.
Renault driver Alonso lost out to Kimi Raikkonen and McLaren in front of a massive home crowd two weeks ago but he is confident his rival's advantage will be trimmed around the Monaco streets this weekend.
The Spanish driver said: "All races are very important, but for me, the Spanish Grand Prix and the Monaco Grand Prix are maybe something more because you feel that is very important for Formula One and for the history.
"I hope to win the race here because it is a very special race, a very special weekend for the drivers and winning in Monte Carlo is definitely something more than winning in another place."
Alonso admitted that despite his Renault team's dominant run of four wins at the start of the season, their advantage has been dissolved and that McLaren are now ahead in terms of performance.
But he is confident that the unique layout of the Monaco track, which snakes through barrier-lined streets and is the slowest circuit on the Grand Prix calendar, will be a leveller.
"I arrive with good confidence," he said, speaking to reporters in a relaxed mood in the paddock. "The car is performing well and we have no problems with the car or the engine or the tyres, so far.
"We have finished races with no mechanical problems and that should be the same thing again this year. Usually we have a good car here, competitive again, and historically Renault has always been competitive here.
"I think at the moment McLaren are a little bit in front of us in terms of competitiveness, but here is a very special track and not always a good car wins in Monaco.
"Last year we saw Ferrari dominated the whole championship but here in Monaco they were not quick enough to win the race. We know the McLaren is quick but here is always very special."
The unpredictable race has seen four different winners in the last four years, and Renault won here last year when Italian Jarno Trulli, who has now joined Toyota, claimed his maiden victory.
A win here for Alonso and Renault would extend their respective advantages over second-placed Trulli and Toyota while Raikkonen is a massive 27 points off Alonso in third, with McLaren 21 points behind also in third.
But Alonso still believes that, with 14 races still to run this season, the season is only just beginning and tipped Ferrari, McLaren and Renault to be fighting it out for the championships at the end.
"I think both McLaren and Ferrari are very strong and both will be our main opponents," said Alonso. "But we knew that and I said that in Australia when we arrived in the first race.
"We were lucky to score more points than them in the first five races and hopefully we can keep this gap for a very long time. But it is normal that there will be some races where they are more competitive and some where we are."
World champion Michael Schumacher is even further behind in the title race, sitting on 10 points to Alonso's 44, but the Spaniard still believes seven-time champion Schumacher can fight back.
"I think Michael and Ferrari still have a chance to win everything," said Alonso. "After the dominant position they showed in the last couple of years you will always think that Ferrari will come back.
"If Michael wins two races in a row, or even one race, the question will be whether Michael is already in the fight for the championship. Every race will change the opinions, but at the end they will be there, for sure."
