Rossi won't win in F1, says Alonso

Although speculation is mounting that Rossi will eventually make the jump from motorcycles to F1 with Ferrari, Alonso is sceptical about whether the MotoGP champion will be as good in cars as he is on bikes.

When asked whether be believed Rossi could actually win in F1, Alonso told Spanish radio station Cadena SER: "Sincerely...no, I don't think so.

"Last week he did his first test with other drivers, but his engine was quite different from ours. It's like if I would try motorbikes. I could take part, have fun, but I could never beat (Dani) Pedrosa. I couldn't beat people that started in mini-bikes when they were three..."

Alonso's doubts about Rossi's potential come after analysis by this week's Autosport magazine reveals that Rossi was theoretically able to set a time just a few tenths slower than Michael Schumacher.

Taking into account the restricted V10 engine that Rossi was running in his F2004, Autosport reports that Rossi would have been able to set a best time of 1:10.8 seconds with a proper V10. This compared to Schumacher's best lap at Valencia in a F2004 of 1:10.2 seconds.