Alonso sure Ferrari can fight for F1 title despite slow start

Although neither he nor Kimi Raikkonen have finished on the podium so far this season, Alonso believes that the rate of improvement by teams will be so rapid this season that Ferrari can close down early pacesetter Mercedes.

When asked ahead of the Bahrain Grand Prix about whether he really believed Ferrari would be in the title fight by the end of the season, Alonso said: "It could be extremely sad if I say no, because it is the third race of the championship.

"So definitely yes I still think we can do a good job. It is a very young car. All the things we find in the wind tunnel or the power area are not steps we used to see in the last years, when it was half a tenth each time.

"Now you see a couple of tenths in any step. So there is very good room to improve in all areas, to become more competitive.

"But at the same time, it is the same for everybody so we just need to be a little cleverer than the other teams and find this little extra.

"Unfortunately we start with a deficit so we need to close this gap, but the potential is there and there is no question that we think that in Abu Dhabi we will be in the fight. That's for sure."

Although it is clear there is a speed gap between Ferrari and Mercedes, Alonso said it was hard to work out if it was aero or engine performance that was making the difference.

"It is difficult to split the area they [Mercedes] are stronger," he said. "We all know the power unit is very efficient and it is quite strong, because we see other cars are very competitive with the Mercedes engine.

"But the McLaren finished 84 seconds behind in Malaysia, so the Mercedes is obviously also good. It is not only the engine.

"So we just need to improve the package. We need to improve in all areas.

"Red Bull, for example, after a tough winter and some difficulties they managed to change the situation and become competitive very quickly.

"We will try to do better. There is a long way to go and we are ready to fight."