Alonso sorry to miss out on podium

The McLaren driver, winner of the Sakhir race for the past two seasons with Renault, had to settle for fifth position after being unable to match his main rivals' pace.

Alonso finished three places behind teammate Lewis Hamilton, the world champion not feeling comfortable with his car for most of the race.

The Spaniard, however, was happy to keep the championship lead after three races, even if he's tied with Hamilton and Ferrari's Kimi Raikkonen.

"After this race I'm left with a bit of a bitter taste for not having been able to climb onto the podium which was the main target," Alonso told Spanish television after the race.

"But after these first three races I didn't think I would be sharing the lead in the championship with the Ferraris when we thought they were on another planet.

"So we'll arrive in Barcelona in good conditions and leading the championship."

Alonso, who finished 14 seconds behind race winner Felipe Massa, admitted there was not much more he could have done in the race.

"I couldn't do more than what I did, and in the end it's four points and we finished the race and as I said I tried to do the best I could," he added. "I wasn't very comfortable with the car, and in the end I did the best I could."