Motorsport: Title leader Alonso wrestles with unaccustomed status

Renault's Fernando Alonso says he can handle being the first Spaniard to lead the Formula One championship.

The unbridled enthusiasm of compatriots, fired up by his victory in the last Malaysian Grand Prix, has been more of a problem, however.

"Leading the championship is not really a problem," the 23-year-old said on the eve of tomorrow's Bahrain Grand Prix.

"It is not giving me any more pressure because we have had only two races.

"Maybe I would feel pressure if we were in the last two races and I was leading the championship, but now is not the real picture.

"So we have to forget and think race by race."

Alonso finished third in the Australian season-opener and has 16 points to second-placed Italian team-mate Giancarlo Fisichella's 10.

Ferrari's seven-times world champion Michael Schumacher has just two points, but has a new car for tomorrow's race at Sakhir.

There are still 16 grands prix to come after Bahrain in the longest Formula One season yet.

Schumacher, who would be mobbed by fans were he to walk down the street in his native Germany, lives in Switzerland.

 

Alonso prefers a quiet life in the English city of Oxford to his homeland.

To the Spanish driver's discomfort, that did not stop a throng of fans and media gathering outside his parents' house in Oviedo after his victory in Malaysia.

"Really, in Spain it went too far, all the people, especially journalists, and this is a problem," Alonso said.

"It is not what I want, for them to be in front of my house waiting for a picture, and if they think they have to do that it is their problem.

"They were in front of my parents' house and I was not there, I was with a friend and I watched on television what they were doing."

There is little prospect of their fervour waning, however, with Alonso and Fisichella likely to be challenging strongly for the team's unprecedented third win in a row tomorrow.

"It is nice to compete and to fight for the race with your team-mate because it means the car is more competitive than the others," Alonso said.

"Ferrari are a very strong team, one of the favourites for all the grands prix, and now with their new car they will have more potential and they will be more competitive than the last race.

"But Renault won the first two grands prix and are the team to beat.

"Last year it [Bahrain] was not a perfect track for us ... but this year we have a completely different package.

"We have a strong engine, a nice car aerodynamically, and everything can change. I am quite convinced that we will have a competitive car here and can fight for the podium.

"Minimum."

HOW THEY STAND

Drivers' championship

* F. Alonso (Sp) Renault 16pts

* G. Fisichella (Italy) Renault 10

* J. Trulli (Italy) Toyota 8

* R. Barrichello (Brz) Ferrari 8

* D. Coulthard (GB) Red Bull 8

* J-P Montoya (Col) McLaren-Mercedes 8

* N. Heidfeld (Ger) Williams-BMW 6

* Ralf Schumacher (Ger) Toyota 4

* M. Webber (Aust) Williams-BMW 4

* C. Klien (Aut) Red Bull 3

* Michael Schumacher (Ger) Ferrari 2

* K. Raikkonen (Fin) McLaren-Mercedes 1

- REUTERS