Alonso ready to take on world's best

The 21-year-old Spaniard has scored points in every race this year, took pole position in Malaysia and has featured on the podium three times. He says the experience gained this year has made him more able to fight for race positions against the sport's biggest stars.

"I am feeling very good and confident for the future," said Alonso. "With every race I get to know the team and the car a bit better. Today, I feel stronger when I come up against other drivers. These first few races have taught me a lot about pitstops, the tyre performance changes throughout the course of a race, and how to manage your race. I think I am now becoming more and more capable of exploiting the car's potential."

Alonso believes he can continue his excellent form in this weekend's Austrian Grand Prix, but isn't a great fan of the A1-Ring circuit.

"In my view, this is the most straightforward F1 circuit there is," he said. "There is only six bends and it is very short compared to the others, so the gaps are always very tight. I like the circuit, but I wouldn't say that it is my absolute favourite. We come to Austria with some good results behind us, and I think we can do well."