Q&A: Fernando Alonso on Ferrari's tough start to the F1 season

Last weekend in Melbourne, you qualified some way down but enjoyed a great race up to fifth. Is the expected rain and the circuit itself going to make a difference to Ferrari this weekend?

I'm not sure. Hopefully, yes, but I don't think so, to be honest. We have been testing at different circuits: Jerez, Barcelona and then in Australia with more or less the same car with the same problems on it. The cars are nearly identical for everybody compared with Australia, so I don't think there will be big surprises here. The qualifying, we saw the true performance and we are not as competitive as we want, but then in the race anything can happen.

It's the third year for you at Ferrari and the third year you are chasing the front-runners from behind. How can you stay calm and relaxed and composed in such a situation?

This is Formula One. There is not an easy time for anybody. We need to stay focused and work more than the others, knowing that we are a little bit behind now. But the championship is long. We stay calm, we stay focused, because we see a lot of determination in the team. The time will come for us very soon.

What is your state of mind right now? Are you nervous, angry, anxious?

I'm calm. We are not in the situation we wanted to start the 2012 championship, but after 11 years in Formula One I think you understand how long the championship is, what you need when you have the best and what you need when you don’t have the best car.

What is the team's target for this weekend?

We don't have a crystal ball to envisage our position. I think we need to see how competitive we can be here on this different circuit. As I said, we don’t expect any big miracles from Australia to Malaysia because the cars are identical. But who knows?