Alonso Plays Down Ferrari Threat

Alonso ended the day just half a second clear of World Champion Michael Schumacher, but he believes that there is little evidence to suggest the Maranello-based outfit are about to begin a major fightback.

"It's not really a good day to have clear information about that, but I think they are similar to the first two races," said Alonso when asked about his early impressions of Ferrari's F2005. "I didn't see a very dominating car there from Ferrari and this is good for us.

"When I arrived in Australia I was pretty sure that Ferrari and McLaren were our big rivals and now I am still thinking they are the big teams this year. At the end of the championship they will be there.

"But also we have teams who have improved a lot and Williams, who had a podium in Malaysia. There are not only two or three teams fighting for top prizes, there will be four or five, which is even better for Formula One."

Although Renault have emerged as early favourites for World Championship glory, the team are still pushing hard with developments to their R25 - well aware that their opposition are pushing just as much to close the gap at the front.

"It seems we are quite quick on all types of circuits," Alonso explained. "All the package is working well. There's always room to improve, in fact we have new pieces here on the aerodynamics, which were on the car today.

"It is better than before and I'm sure every day the team will improve and develop the car more."