Alonso banks on rain to give him podium

The Renault driver thinks his team are too far behind Ferrari, McLaren and BMW Sauber to challenge them in the dry. But, after being so quick in the wet first practice session on Friday, he thinks he could cause an upset if the rain return.

"I hope for rain because on Friday morning I was fastest in the rain," said Alonso. "Then I stopped and people started on the dry line to improve their times.

"But when I was on track I was quickest, so maybe in the wet we are a little bit more competitive than in the dry. In the dry we will fight for sixth, seventh, eighth place as usual, but in the wet maybe it's a little bit more open."

Alonso believes the tight midfield battle is closing up even further at the moment, with little to choose between his Renault team, Toyota, and Red Bull Racing

"It's very close - everyone seems to improve at a similar pace and we find we are closer to the top teams, but at the same time the last guys like Force India are closer to us than ever. Between first and 15th is less than seven or eight tenths. This is very interesting."