Ferrari boss Domenicali hails Alonso's performance this season

Alonso's third place finish in Monza has lifted him into the position of Sebastian Vettel's nearest challenger - albeit 112 points behind the Red Bull Racing driver.

Nevertheless, Ferrari team principal Stefano Domenicali thinks Alonso has done a brilliant job to get ahead of quality opposition like Lewis Hamilton, Jenson Button and Mark Webber.

"I think Fernando did a fantastic race," said Domenicali. "It was an incredible start. I have heard people say that that moment was worth the price of the ticket. To see how he was aggressive, in terms of procedure and attacking, it was really fantastic.

"And then I think Fernando did a fantastic race. He was really good, always attacking, and unfortunately now we are paying the price of the fact that we don't have the best performing car.

"It is clear that Red Bull Racing is incredibly strong, and McLaren is really strong too. So to see him now he is second in the drivers' championship classification means a lot, considering where we are at the moment, in terms of performance and the problems we had since the beginning. I think Fernando is doing a fantastic championship."

Although Alonso still has a mathematical chance of winning the championship, Ferrari says that the main focus now is on trying to win races and get itself better prepared for 2012.

"I think that for sure it is very, very, very, very, very, very, difficult," said Domenicali about the championship. "The only thing we can do is to not focus on it. We must try to maximise what we can do, but now it is clear for Sebastian I would say that he has the chance in his hands.

"We want to go to Singapore in different conditions. We hope to be more competitive but we need to see.

"We are bringing some new bits that were already planned and in production, and it is another situation where we try to maximise the points, because we have the classification we need to fight for.

"And we need to make sure of the job we do not only in Singapore, but in other races, so we can work on some things that we can already anticipate for the project for next year. That will be very important no doubt."