Alonso welcomes Hamilton pressure

Hamilton will start from the front row for the first time at Sakhir after grabbing second place on the grid - two positions ahead of Alonso.

And although Hamilton has developed from promising rookie to serious victory contender in just three races, Alonso insists that he welcomes such pressure from a teammate.

"I have been pushed very hard all my career, especially at the start of the season," said Alonso. "With (Jarno) Trulli in 2004 we arrived at race nine or 10 and I was nine points behind him. And with (Giancarlo) Fisichella the same thing. He won one of the first two races and we were very close in the points.

"This year has been the same. It is a very close fight with teammates and I think this is helping the team to improve and to develop the car. It creates a good atmosphere in the team because we can both fight for big things, not only one driver."

Alonso blamed a lack of confidence in the car balance for his failure to beat Hamilton - but remains optimistic that matters will be different in this afternoon's race as he targets another podium finish.

"Nothing changes," he said about his ambitions for the race. "I have the same targets and the same goals. The strategy is the same for every race, but for sure I want to win the world championship.

"I don't want to be winning in Malaysia and losing ten points here in the first corner - or on lap 40 or whatever. So I need to be on the podium if it is possible at 17 races. And then win the championship at the end.

"It is very important to finish, especially in front of the Ferraris that we still believe will be our main competitors at the end of the championship.

"We have a great chance to fight with them. In Australia we were not able to do it, in Malaysia we were able and we did it. And here we are close enough to fight with them."