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Alonso cannot be sure of title chances

Fernando Alonso has admitted that he is not assured of world championship success this season, despite joining Scuderia Ferrari.

The former-Renault driver joins the Italian Manufacturer having won his last championship in 2006. However the Spaniard believes that his much-publicised move will not guarantee success that he craves.

“It’s not that easy. Michael Schumacher himself needed five years to win after joining Ferrari,” Alonso said in an interview with the Spanish radio station, Onda Cero.

“Formula 1 is not simply mathematics. We see the same in football and in other sports, where you see that a great team can lose in a small team’s stadium.

“In F1 it’s more or less the same, and theory is not everything. Then things on track must go well and you have to prove things.”

Alonso is also wary of the challenge from the other teams on the grid and believes that the restrictions on pre-season testing have prevented a clear title favourite from emerging.

“It’s hard to pick the order,” he added. “The two Mercedes drivers, the two McLaren drivers, maybe the two Red Bulls, and also my team-mate Massa are in theory the big favourites for the title, but there could be some surprises, like it happened last year with Brawn or Toyota, which started the championship very well.

“Even though we’ll see in February’s test, as of today there are four teams who are favourites and the good thing is that Ferrari is among them.”

Alonso is also confident of a strong relationship with Felipe Massa, despite the pair having a chequered history.

“The memory of the Nurburgring race is just for those who few who will be looking for any kind of controversy,” he said. “Surely there will be a start in which the two McLarens are too close to each other and then there will be a debate about Button and Hamilton having problems, and the same if Felipe and I have it, or Michael and Rosberg.

“That’s the expectation created by a big team, with the all media attention it brings. There’s not a problem, we are both prepared to help Ferrari.”

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