Alonso expects another battle for points

Fernando Alonso admits Renault's target for this weekend's Bahrain Grand Prix must be again to finish in the points while it still trails the top teams on pace.

The former champion squad has yet to make up the ground it lost last year during the season's first two races, with Alonso only able to finish eighth last time out at Sepang.

The Spaniard concedes it will be a similar story for the team at Sakhir, adding that he expects to continue having to fight hard to make the top 10 in qualifying.

“We don't know yet exactly where we stand, although we know that we are behind Ferrari, McLaren and BMW,” he said.

“Reaching Q3 is not easy and so scoring points in the race is also difficult.

“But we have scored points in the first couple of races and I think that is what we must aim for again this weekend in Bahrain.

“We must try and take advantage of the slightest opportunity that comes our way and each race must be seen as a way for us to progress.”

Engineering chief Pat Symonds shares his star driver's outlook ahead of the race weekend, and is not expecting the pecking order to change much from the previous race.

He says there is little to choose on pace between Renault's main rivals at the moment and is therefore predicting another tight battle in qualifying and the race.

“There are a lot of similarities between the first three circuits, and particularly between Malaysia and Bahrain where the general set-up of the car is not that different,” he said.

“I think that Malaysia was a reasonably straightforward race where, with the possible exception of Williams, we saw everyone's true colours, and I don't think that the conditions of Bahrain are sufficiently different to alter the status quo that has been established.

“So I see us being part of this very tight bunch of teams with everything to play for, and the ability to be at the front or the back of that bunch with very there being very little in it.

“We managed to be in that bunch in Malaysia and I expect the same in Bahrain, which means that points will be the target and I'd love to see both drivers through to Q3.

“But I know that is not going to be easy because that is the nature of the competitiveness at the moment.”

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