Alonso aims to push Ferrari 'to the limit'

Ferrari seem to hold the upper hand over their rivals following a dominant victory from Kimi Raikkonen in Australia, and Alonso admitted on Friday it will be very hard to beat the Maranello squad in Sepang.

Despite their impressive pace, Ferrari have had their share of reliability problems, and Alonso believes McLaren will have to push their rivals very hard and hope they have problems if they are to win.

"I think the gap in Australia was too big, too much," Alonso told reporters after practice. "Now, even if we develop the car the gap will be closer because we made some improvements, we still have a little bit more to do.

"It will be difficult to beat them but I think we need to push them. In Australia they had two mechanical problems - one on Massa's car on Saturday, and Kimi nearly on Sunday, so we need to be there if we want to win. We have to push them to the limit."

Brazilian Felipe Massa had to start the Melbourne race from the back of the grid after being hit by a mechanical problem in qualifying.

Raikkonen, meanwhile, had some engine problems during the final stages of the race, leading to fears that his power unit would have to be replaced in Malaysia. Ferrari said however that there were no plans to change it.

The Italian squad began the Malaysian Grand Prix in strong fashion, with Massa setting the pace in both sessions, something Alonso admitted he was expecting.

"Well I think, again, there are no surprises with that," he added. "Ferrari have been quickest in both sessions, with Massa and Kimi in the top positions as well, so I think Ferrari will again be our main competitor.

"If we are going to be on pole position or win the race then we need to beat them. They are the team to beat at the moment."

Despite Ferrari's form, Alonso, 12th quickest, was pleased with his day's work.

"It was good I think. I think it has been more or less a normal Friday for everybody with no surprises," Alonso added. "We tried to evaluate the tyres, the two compounds and some set-up work.

"The car felt straightaway competitive. We tested here last week so we knew more or less what was the set-up. So we are quite happy and it should be okay tomorrow."