Alonso says it was possible to win

The Spanish driver, starting from third position, dropped to the back of the field after spinning when making contact with Jenson Button's McLaren.

From there, however, Alonso charged through the field to finish right behind Ferrari team-mate Felipe Massa.

"I was P22 so I was not thinking about my team-mate at that moment, I was just thinking about scoring some points," said Alonso of the start, when Massa overtook him.

"Then, it was a fantastic result in the end for the team, and for myself as well. So, I was ready to sign before the race for this result - if you win the race you take seven points to your main competitor.

"Now, I took 12 points to Vettel, to Michael and to some of the main rivals for the championship. So it has been a much better race in terms of points than Bahrain, if you compare with your main competitor.

"So, I am extremely happy - especially how the race developed. Being last at the first corner, and then the reward at the end of the race has been much better than I expected."

Alonso admitted he did not think he could recover to score, but claimed his car was perfect and that could have won even from the back of the grid.

"I was not convinced that I could recover the positions to get into the points," he added. "The first laps with the intermediate tyres, if you see the times I was like two seconds quicker than anyone because I was not caring too much. I thought maybe I will crash or maybe I will recover my position - so it was maximum attack.

"The car was perfect, and now even thinking through the race and all the analysis - there is the possibility that you can win the race even starting last because the car was so much quicker today than all the others.

"I was very, very happy and very confident with the car. I enjoyed it - and I prefer to start first and be bored until the end of the race, but it was an interesting race in terms of overtaking and in terms of battles."

The two-time champion also made it clear that he did not think Massa should have let him through, despite being slower than him when he caught the Brazilian.

"No. I don't think so. We are racing also with your team-mate. This is the second race of the championship, so there is nothing you can do. Also, when I arrive behind Felipe my tyres were not in any more a good shape because I was pushing very hard at the beginning.

"I don't think at that time that I could do any more than that. I was more concentrating on Hamilton and Webber - who were coming behind, than attacking Felipe and Robert. I was super happy with fourth, so I stayed there."