Alonso confident of fighting for win

The Spanish driver posted the second time of the day, finishing less than a tenth of a second behind Red Bull's Sebastian Vettel in second practice.

Alonso admitted he felt confident for the rest of the weekend.

"I think we are confident, we are happy with the progress, we are happy with the job - but we respect a lot our rivals, our opponents," Alonso told reporters after practice.

"We know how strong McLaren will be here, probably favourites for tomorrow's pole. We know Red Bull's potential of the car we saw all season, with mainly all the pole positions this season, it will be difficult but we are there. We have nothing to worry about at the moment and we will fight."

He added: "It was a normal Friday again, having more test items this Friday than some others, especially aero test. Monza is a very unique layout for the aero settings with a very unique wings so many things to test when you arrive to Monza.

"In previous years we had some tests two weeks before the race, but now with the test ban you need to use Friday to do all these checks, so we concentrated on that and now we need to look at the data and choose the best possibilities and options for tomorrow, but overall I am happy with the car and I think it was a good Friday for us."

Alonso, racing in front of the Italian fans as a Ferrari driver for the first time, admitted it was a special feeling to be at Monza.

"It was a good day from the entry to the paddock. Walking from the motorhome to the garage is similar to Barcelona or Valencia, a lot of interest about the Ferrari drivers which is very good, today I was first in one moment of the session and I realised the fans were jumping - so it was a good feeling."