Alonso not worried despite no pole

The Spanish driver will start from second place on the grid after being beaten by McLaren teammate and championship rival Lewis Hamilton in Saturday's wet session.

The British rookie finished just 0.070 seconds ahead of the Spaniard.

World champion Alonso is two points behind Hamilton will three races, including tomorrow's event at Fuji, remaining.

"It was okay for me," said Alonso. "Obviously I like wet conditions and I enjoyed driving in Fuji in these conditions. It was okay.

"We are not on pole but we are on the front row and that is important for the race tomorrow."

Alonso said he is expecting a tight battle between McLaren and Ferrari tomorrow, no matter the weather conditions the race takes place in.

"We saw very tight timed laps. It was very close between the two teams and today in qualifying we have a few tenths. In the end in the dry or wet it doesn't change too much the battle between the teams and as we saw today it is extremely close."

The two-time champion insisted there will be no problems with Hamilton at the start, following their on-track battle at the start of the Belgian Grand Prix two weeks ago.

"We will both finish the race, don't worry," he added.