Alonso: Ferrari now quick everywhere

Since winning at Hockenheim in late July, Ferrari and Alonso have out-scored all their rivals in the constructors' and drivers' championship respectively - although both still trail in the standings, holding third place in their respective contests. Alonso remains 21 points behind leader Mark Webber in the drivers' title race, while Ferrari is 60 points adrift of Red Bull.

But after his victory at Monza last weekend, Alonso said he had become much more optimistic about his title chances.

"Despite failing to score in Spa, where the accident on the first lap weighed heavily like a stone, Ferrari and I have scored more points than anyone else in these last four races," he wrote in his blog for the team's website.

"That makes us even more confident and the fact these results came on tracks with very different characteristics to one another, confirms that our car is pretty versatile."

He said that despite the blow of retiring in Belgium, he had always believed that he could turn things around in Italy.

"I had arrived in Maranello on Sunday 5 September, confident that we could reignite our championship chances, even if I felt it would be very tough," Alonso said. "Now, two days on from that really happy moment in Monza, we can claim to have made a good step forward.

"At Spa, things had not gone well, so it was hard to say beforehand what we might really be capable of. However, we knew that, as long as we did our best, we would be in with a chance and that's how things turned out. Now our aim must be to try and do the same in the final five races of the championship."

Yesterday he made a special visit to the team in Maranello to thank the crew for their efforts at Monza.

"I was able to personally thank everyone at the Gestione Sportiva, when they all gathered in the logistics building," he said. "It was nice to once again lift the winner's trophy in front of the people who had made the victory possible, starting with the guys who did the pitstop."