F1: Alonso - We can't race with Ferrari

[Rory Phoulorie]

Fernando Alonso has admitted that his McLaren team needs to find some race pace if he is to take the fight to Ferrari this season, after Kimi Raikkonen dominated the opening round in Australia on Sunday.

The double world champion qualified alongside Raikkonen in Melbourne, and came through to salvage second place after a race-long battle with team-mate Lewis Hamilton, but insisted that he did not have the performance to keep up with the Ferrari.

"We are here to win the world championship, and we know that the race is the most important part of the weekend," he aid after the Albert Park event, "Qualifying is good, but it is only maybe 40 per cent of the race. It is true that, in qualifying, we seem to be quite competitive, with no big problems. But then, in the race, I think we are not as quick as the Ferrari in the long runs.

"I think it is the area in which we are [needing] to improve - and where everyone is trying to improve compared to Ferrari. As I said, [in] qualifying, I think two or three teams can fight with Ferrari but, in the race, no-one can."

The Spaniard accepted that the improvement would not only come from McLaren finding technical advances between now and round two in Malaysia, admitting that he would play a part in further honing the MP4-22.

"It is in the hands of everybody," he acknowledged, "For sure, the engineers will come with new pieces to improve the car and its performance, especially on the long runs. I believe in their job and I believe that, very soon, the car will come quicker and quicker.

"We also keep learning about these new Bridgestone tyres, which are completely different. As Kimi said, it was difficult to [judge the different compounds] because, in the last part of the race, no-one was pushing. The positions were quite fixed, so we didn't push the last set of tyres hard to see how they were.

"I am sure, too, that there is more in my hands in terms of driving, and I hope I will improve day by day."

While deprived of victory, Alonso acknowledged that second and third places in race one represented a good start to the season for McLaren, especially as points scored in the early rounds often dictates the destiny of the championship.

"I think it's been a good weekend, and I think we have to be pleased with the final result," the Spaniard said, "As I said, I think the Ferraris were a little bit too quick today, so we have to take the maximum points that we can and second place is a good place to start.

"For sure, we have to work a little bit more if we want to win races but, as I said to the team, today we proved that we are here to win, not to race and relax. We saw good potential in the team today, and I'm looking forward to the next race."

Although there is a group test planned for Sepang in the fortnight between the Australian and Malaysian grands prix, Alonso has said that, at the moment, he will head to Kuala Lumpur with the same gameplan as he adopted in Melbourne.

"Keep scoring points; keep finishing on the podium...," he reasoned, "Like I said, for the world championship, you cannot have any mistakes in these days so, in the first four or five races, I think the most important thing is to finish all of them and, if possible be on the podium. From then on, depending on how the car develops, you can start fighting for victories or whatever.

"I think Malaysia can be interesting. I have always been very good there and I have great memories from Sepang so, hopefully, it will be a good weekend for us."


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