Alonso: 2011 tyres will hurt top teams

Pirelli has responded to requests to make tyre management a greater factor in grands prix and deliberately designed its new-for-2011 tyres to wear faster than 2010's Bridgestones, which were often capable of covering an entire race distance.

Drivers' views on the new tyres' characteristics have been mixed so far, and Alonso said at a Santander event in Madrid today that the likelihood of extra pitstops would cause 'uncertainty' in races and hamper the top teams.

"From what we have seen so far, degradation is very significant, which means we will have races with lots of pitstops," he said.

"I'm not keen on that because I think this increased uncertainty does not favour the strongest teams.

"It's as if in football, it was decided to have a penalty per team each half hour in which case Barcelona and Real Madrid would not be jumping for joy.

"However, the situation is the same for everyone: it will be important to be fastest because I don't think we can make one stop less than our main rivals."

The 2010 runner-up remained unwilling to predict where Ferrari stands in the current pecking order, though he expects the lead pack to be significantly closer than it was last year.

"We will only really know where we stand compared to the others when we are in Melbourne," said Alonso. "At the moment, I am happy because we proved to have a reliable car.

"If all goes to plan, we will be in the group of teams capable of fighting for the title, along with Red Bull the reigning champions, McLaren, Mercedes and also Renault, who had already made a step forward towards the end of last season. Even Toro Rosso has made significant progress."