Alonso insists he is expecting a tough weekend in China despite Malaysian triumph

The Ferrari driver took advantage of the tricky conditions at Sepang to take his first victory of the season, moving to the top of the championship standings.

Alonso has however made it clear that Ferrari is still far from the top teams and is keeping his feet on the ground for this weekend's race.

"Nothing has changed since Malaysia and so I expect a tough weekend," said Alonso in China on Thursday. "There will be no big surprises, as although the car has some small improvements, there is nothing big coming for this race.

"I expect this is the same situation with the other teams, which is why I feel the general picture will be the same as at the last two races. This means we will struggle to get through into Q3 on Saturday and then on Sunday, we will be hoping to get a good start and then do a good job of tyre management."

The Spaniard is still hopeful the circumstances will play in his favour like they did in the first two races in order to continue scoring good points.

"We can also hope for a little bit of luck, because this is a factor we often forget but it is there, as we saw in Australia and then again in Malaysia where I was lucky to avoid a first corner accident," he said.

"You need a big package to win and luck is part of it, so let's hope it stays with us for this weekend."