Alonso expects McLaren equality in Brazil

The Spanish driver took second place in the Chinese Grand Prix on Sunday to keep his championship hopes alive following the retirement of Hamilton.

Alonso is now four points behind the Briton with just the Interlagos race left.

The two-time champion could not have expected such a turnaround after Hamilton dominated the first part of the race from pole position.

Alonso had qualified in fourth place over six tenths behind Hamilton, a result that left him angry. Later on, the Spaniard launched a scathing attack against McLaren and team boss Ron Dennis.

But despite his deteriorating relationship with the team, Alonso expects McLaren to play fair in the final race of the year, although he made it clear he thinks the British squad would prefer Hamilton to win the title.

"I'm sure there's going to be equality," Alonso told Spanish reporters after the race. "One thing is how they feel, what they say about me, but what they do on track is a different thing, and usually they have had two cars that are exactly same, capable of fighting for victory.

"And that's what I think will happen in Brazil, so everything will be up to me.

"The second half of the season has been difficult and it still is, but I think in the end the two cars will be the same. They are going to give us both the same opportunities, I think we need to make that clear.

"There's no problem there, but we know they are never going to have favourable feelings towards me."

He added: "I hope both cars will be the same, and that we can have a good qualifying and that everything that happened here was just a coincidence and we can fight for pole in Brazil, which would be the only chance to fight for victory. If you are not on pole or in the first row, it's almost over."

Despite being in a better mood than yesterday, Alonso reiterated his criticism of the team.

"Yesterday I did not say anything that is not true," he added. "The team has been saying many bad things about me, from Spa onwards especially, so the relationship didn't change too much.

"He (Dennis) was the first one to say that he was not speaking with me and things like that. From that point, I understood that the championship was not going to be easy for me."