Alonso eyeing second successive win

The world champion scored his first win with McLaren at Sepang to move to the top of the championship standings, also ending McLaren's victory drought. The British squad had not won since the 2005 Japanese Grand Prix.

And although Alonso still reckons rivals Ferrari are ahead in terms of race pace, the Spaniard is targeting another win this weekend.

"There is a good feeling in the team at the moment and we all want to be out there racing and fighting for wins and points, but we also know that we need to find more speed and everyone is working hard on this," said Alonso in a team preview.

"I won the Bahrain Grand Prix last year, and would like to try and repeat that result this weekend. We had a positive test here before the start of the season, we learned a lot about the MP4-22 and the Bridgestone Potenzas.

"The car has developed a lot since then, and it will be interesting to see how it performs at the Bahrain International Circuit with these upgrades."

Alonso's teammate Lewis Hamilton, who has enjoyed a dream start to life in Formula One thanks to two podium finishes in two races, admits he wasn't expecting to have such a good debut, and he is hoping to continue with it in Bahrain.

"To have started my debut season in Formula One with two podium positions is more than I could ever have expected," said Hamilton.

"With the team I will keep pushing hard to develop and continue to fight for more results like these. However I am aware this is a dream start to the season in what is a difficult sport.

"Bahrain, like Malaysia, will be another demanding race and I will have new experiences and challenges. I am really looking forward to it though."