Q & A with Fernando Alonso

Fernando Alonso: "It was OK. It was a similar balance to what we happened in the test - no big surprises."

Q: How are you set for the weekend?

Alonso: "Similar to the last couple of Grands Prix. We are behind the top teams and fighting with Toyota and Red Bull .It's very close, and a small detail can make a difference."

Q: Are you finding it so much closer now in the midfield?

Alonso: "It's very close - everyone sees to improve at a similar pace and we find we are closer to the top teams, but at the same time the last guys like Force India are closer to us than ever. Between first and 15th is less than 7 or 8 tenths. This is very interesting."

Q: You've gone well in practice today - can you fight with BMW and Toyota?

Alonso: "We'll see. Maybe depending on the conditions. If it's wet maybe be are a bit more competitive - we looked good this morning in wet conditions so maybe we have a chance. If not, our main competitors will again be Toyota and Red Bull."

Q: The weather forecast says the qualifying could be wet and the race could be dry. How difficult is it to find the right setup for that situation?

Alonso: "Obviously you need to go for the dry setup because qualifying is one lap and the race is nearly 70 laps."

Q: How do you see the rest of the season?

Alonso: "It will be more or less the same as the first half for anybody. Now it is not a big surprise to see Ferrari and McLaren battle for the title with BMW a little behind then Red Bull, Toyota, Renault, Williams fighting for the last couple of points and I think it will stay like that for the season."

Q: You looked like you were having to work very hard at the wheel today?

Alonso: "We have some difficulties with oversteer in the car that we didn't manage to improve during the sessions. It was a little bit different compared to the test. We are still working on that and tomorrow hopefully we will have a better car.

"It was difficult to drive but quick at the same time so it was not a bad compromise but for sure we need to find some more comfortable car to drive."

Q: How much progress did you make with the setup?

Alonso: "Because we tested last week for three days for sure the Friday was not very interesting because the setup is more or less done last week. We just need to tune it a little bit. For us it was this little oversteer we found today.

"We did more than 200 laps here last week so it was not an exciting day. It was a little bit wet this morning - maybe it will be wet tomorrow so it's good always to practice and it's always something to discover good on Friday. It was a good Friday."

Q: Are you hoping for rain?

Alonso: "I hope for rain because this morning i was fastest in the rain, then I stop and people started on the dry line to improve their times but when I was on track I was quickest so maybe in the wet we are a little bit more competitive than in the dry. In the dry we will fight for sixth, seventh, eighth place as usual, but in the wet maybe it's a little bit more open."

Q: How were the softer tyres?

Alonso: "We knew from the test the soft tyre is graining a Little ebit, especially the front tyre. If you push them in the first couple of laps you have huge graining so I tried to be gentle on the out-lap and in the fast corners in the first couple of laps.

"But in the race you can't do that, you need to push all through the race so it will be a difficulty that is the same for everybody. Maybe the prime is the better race tyre."