Alonso predicts open Australian GP

Fernando Alonso believes victory in this weekend’s Australian Grand Prix could fall into the hands of any driver.

Unsurprisingly, Ferrari and McLaren have dominated, winning 10 of the last 12 races at Melbourne’s Albert Park.

Yet Alonso, who took the chequered flag in 2006 with Renault, feels it is a tough call this season as to who will stand on top of the podium given the new rule changes.

“I think the order of the teams will probably be different from the last few years,” said the 27-year-old.

“We have got used to Ferrari and McLaren dominating, but with the new rules I think there will be lots of cars fighting for the win.

“Hopefully we will be in that fight.”

This year’s Renault, at least with Alonso at the wheel compared to team-mate Nelson Piquet, appears to be in the running.

Alonso finished last season strongly, winning in Singapore and Japan to enable him to come fifth in the final drivers’ standings.

The Spaniard is now looking to carry that form into the new campaign, adding: “That is certainly our intention.

“We finished in a strong position last year and this year our goal is to fight for the championship.

“But we have lots of new regulations this year and nobody really knows what will happen in Melbourne.

“From what we have seen in testing it seems all the teams are very close and so we will certainly have a fight on our hands.

“But in the past Albert Park has been a good track for Renault and so I hope we can have a strong weekend.”

Renault, though, are understood to be one of the teams opting not to use the new kinetic energy recovery system (KERS) on Sunday.

That is despite the fact Alonso is happy with the device built for this year that could give drivers a boost equating to several tenths of a second in terms of lap time at the touch of a button as energy normally lost under braking is stored.

The downside is the weight and packaging of the system – and its impact on the car’s weight distribution – which also have to be taken into account.

“With the KERS and moveable wings the drivers now have more work to do inside the cockpit,” remarked Alonso.

“During testing I worked hard to adapt to the new systems so that I can get the most from them in Melbourne.

“I’m really pleased with the KERS system that we have developed and hopefully it will give us an advantage at the start of the season.

“I’m not sure if it will make overtaking easier, but it will certainly improve lap times.”

With a ban on in-season testing, it will make development in the factory pivotal if any team is to be successful.

Alonso is at least pleased to be going into the new season with a car he likes, but one he knows will need to constantly evolve if he is to be in the shake up come the conclusion.

“We’ve learned how to optimise the set-up and we now have a car that is easy to drive and consistent,” enthused Alonso.

“But what is important now is we keep improving and developing the car throughout the year.”