Schumacher holds off on Alonso verdict

Although Alonso ended Schumacher's five-year stretch as World Champion last year after a brilliant season for Renault, the Ferrari driver said on Wednesday that he still had question marks about the Spaniard's ability because they had not raced enough wheel-to-wheel.

"I don't think it is a secret that he is a very fast guy," said Schumacher when asked at a media conference on Wednesday to rate Alonso as a driver. "He does a good job and he is a pretty good competitor on track.

"But I just try to remember what real fights we had, where we could have overtaken each other.

"Obviously last year we had Imola. He did a good job protecting his position, but unfortunately that was a track where overtaking was not really possible. I don't remember where we had had close fighting together where you could overtake."

Alonso held off the fast-charging Schumacher in the closing stages of last year's San Marino Grand Prix at Imola - even though the Ferrari had an advantage that was worth up to two seconds per lap.