Alonso expecting difficult Hungarian GP

"We knew that the qualifying session would be very close and that proved to be the case," said Alonso, who scored his maiden F1 win at the Hungaroring in 2003.

"The first part was very competitive, but we managed to reach Q3 with both cars, which is positive. But I think the race tomorrow will be difficult, that's for sure.

"I will try and do my best to be on the pace and hopefully score some points," added the Renault driver, who failed to score points in Germany two weeks ago.

Teammate Nelsinho Piquet continued to show good form following his maiden podium, the Brazilian qualifying in the top ten for the third time in four races.

"The session was very competitive and more difficult than I though it would be," he said. "In the end I managed to reach Q3 and I am happy about that.

"It means we can approach the race sensibly tomorrow and I hope we can make the most of this grid position to score some points."