Mat Coch writes:

Fernando Alonso will not be in fifth spot when the pack reaches the first corner during this afternoon's Grand Prix, he has warned.

The Spaniard was buoyed by his fifth place qualifying performance, believing his Ferrari to be in contention for the 2013 title. His opinion was reinforced by Felipe Massa who set an almost identical lap time, three thousandths of a second faster than his team leader.

"We're starting in the top five which is something we are not used to in the first race because we start always with massive problems in the last years," he said. "So starting fifth means the podium goal for this afternoon is something we can touch... We want to be on the podium today."

A dry race is predicted, though Alonso, for one, wouldn't mind if it remained wet. "We are always a little bit more competitive (in the wet) but the race is supposed to be dry.

"The start will be interesting," he added. "I expect a lot from our start so I think we will arrive in the first corner better than fifth."

Just how far up the order he can get remains an unknown, the wet qualifying session failing to give a true indication of how each team is stacking up, though Red Bull does appear to be the class of the field once again.

"Obviously the qualifying was not a normal qualifying," Alonso explained. "We don't know exactly what is the advantage that Red Bull has now.

"I think we need to confirm this in a completely dry qualifying," he added. "They are fast, no doubt, but we will be strong in this championship as well."