Fernando Alonso is confident that he will be able to take the fight to Kimi Raikkonen and Ferrari in Sunday’s Australian Grand Prix after qualifying on the front row on his McLaren debut.

The Spaniard had been outshone by his impressive rookie team-mate Lewis Hamilton through free practice and the first two segments of qualifying, but confirmed why he is now acknowledged as Formula 1’s benchmark driver in Q3 to snatch a slot alongside his Finnish rival.

And after a strong opening weekend for his new team so far, he sees no reason why it won’t continue tomorrow as he aims to kick off his title defence with a win first time out at McLaren.

“I really hope so,” he said when asked if it agreed that it looked like it would be a close race between Ferrari and McLaren at the front.

“For sure it will be very interesting.

“We have been very competitive I think all weekend, even if yesterday we were conservative, I think we have put everything together today in qualifying and we are there.

“So why not tomorrow? I think we will be very good.”

The double world champion admitted that it had been a challenging first qualifying session of the year as he got used to the way McLaren operated during the hour.


But he was impressed by both the team and the pace of its MP4-22 car at Albert Park

“I think it has been a difficult day for everybody,” he said.

“In the morning there were some drops of rain again that were a little bit worrying.

“And qualifying is always difficult, with the first qualifying of the new year a little bit more stressful as you get back used to the system, especially with me at a new team.

“I felt really, really confident all weekend with the car and it is true we were a little bit up and down on the times, but in the end when needed we are there.

“And starting tomorrow where we are I think it is really fantastic news.”