Cautious Alonso not counting his chickens

FERNANDO ALONSO moved another few points closer to becoming Formula One’s newest and youngest champion – but knows his dream could yet go up in smoke.

Alonso's second place at Sunday's Italian Grand Prix, in conjunction with the luckless Kimi Raikkonen's fourth, means the Spaniard is 27 points clear of the Finn.

The mathematics are simple: if Alonso claims four more points than Raikkonen in Sunday's Belgian Grand Prix at Spa-Francorchamps, the sport will be hailing a new king.

While Alonso enjoyed another trouble-free weekend in finishing runner-up to Raikkonen's McLaren team-mate Juan Pablo Montoya, his title rival endured further agony.

Notwithstanding a third engine change in the last six grands prix prior to qualifying, Raikkonen's one-stop strategy and with it a potential race victory, was wrecked on lap 28 when the left-rear tyre started to shred.

Raikkonen later conceded he could have won the race but for that, and must wonder when his fortune will start to change, although with races fast running out it has to be soon if he is to have any chance of catching Alonso.

The 24-year-old, while declining to acknowledge he has even one hand on the title, is also refusing to believe he could lose it from such a strong position.

"I try not to think like that," insisted Alonso.

"I'm obviously not 100% sure of it yet, and if I don't finish the next two races and Kimi wins both, then the gap is just seven going into Japan.

"I think Kimi has the potential to win all the remaining races, so I need to get as many points as I can."

Alonso has finished on the podium in 11 of the 15 races to date, and if he can maintain that kind of consistency then, even though Raikkonen has the best car, the title would surely be his.

But a wary Alonso said: "You only have to look at what happened in Hungary.

"I went into that race, on one of my favourite circuits where we should have been the equal of McLaren, with a 36-point lead, but I came away with nothing, so how can I feel confident?

"Every race is different, and if I have a problem I'm not able to recover as quick as the McLaren can.

"If they have a problem, say with the engine, they still finish on the podium. If we've a problem, we would struggle to finish in the top five or six.

"So let's keep doing the same things we have been doing as professionally as we can, perfect weekends with no mechanical problems, good laps in qualifying and a strong race on Sundays.

"If we can keep doing that then we'll have two hands on the championship very soon."