Alonso disappointed with fourth

And the Spaniard pinned the result on the fact that he had to start the final part of qualifying behind McLaren teammate Lewis Hamilton.

Alonso needs to score four points more than Hamilton to retain the title, but the rookie Briton will start tomorrow's race in second place, with third title rival Kimi Raikkonen in third.

"I'm very disappointed," Alonso told Italian television RAI after qualifying. "Certainly fourth is very disappointing, but there's nothing to do about it now. I just need to think about tomorrow to try to do an impossible race."

Alonso said he was handicapped by the fact that he had to start the third part of qualifying behind Hamilton, which ultimately forced him to push too much in order to start his final flying lap before the session ended.

"The main problem was starting behind my teammate as usual," he said. "To pass the finish line with just three seconds to go makes you go too fast on the out-lap."