Alonso: I'd have been on pole

"Yes," said the Spaniard when asked if he would have been on pole if not for Schumacher's incident.

Schumacher slid wide at the Rascasse corner with just seconds of the final session remaining, his Ferrari stopping almost in the middle of the corner. The incident triggered an investigation from the race stewards.

"Until the last corner I was three tenths quicker. I did my maximum in the car. Today the car was ok, we have a fantastic tyre for the race," added Alonso, who will start from second position.

"We have to wait and see. To lose the last lap through an accident is not really good. Both tyres are quite competitive, but I'm quite optimistic for the race."

When asked if he thought less of Schumacher for the controversial incident, Alonso replied: "I don't have an opinion on that."

Schumacher defended himself saying he had made a genuine driving error.

"If you want to believe it is up to you. If you don't, well that is the world we live in," said the German, who faced difficult questions in the post-qualifying press conference.

"I don't know why you ask such a bad question," replied Schumacher when asked if he had cheated. "That is pretty tough If you had to drive around Monaco you would not ask this question.

"I don't care what other teams do. I know Flavio (Briatore) well enough."

Renault boss Briatore suggested the German had done it on purpose.

"He's just parking the car," Briatore told ITV. "This is the way Ferrari manage."