• Australian Grand Prix - Qualifying

Alonso still eyeing Ferrari points

Fernando Alonso did not look quick enough to trouble the front-runners before his error © Sutton Images

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• Race:
• Australian Grand Prix

• Drivers:
• Fernando Alonso

• Teams:
• Ferrari

Fernando Alonso's first target in the Australian Grand Prix will be to score points despite the less competitive Ferrari F2012.

Alonso didn't make it out of Q2 after spinning off at turn one as he tried to make up time during the second part of qualifying. When asked what his target for the race would be he replied: "I think points will be the first priority and then the second priority the top five."

In admitting his mistake, Alonso also said he didn't know if he would have made it through to Q3 anyway.

"I think I touched the grass. I obviously didn't realise when I was driving but looking at the TV the left tyres were on the grass so I spun putting the tyres there and qualifying finished unfortunately in the gravel. I don't know what the position would be without the incident, maybe it was possible to go in to Q3, maybe not, because the times were very close. If you were in Q3 you'd have no new tyres for tomorrow so maybe at the end of the day it's a good compromise to be P12 with new tyres."

Alonso admitted that he suspected the team would not be able to challenge at the front of the grid during pre-season test.

"We're obviously not quick enough, we're obviously not competitive to fight for the top places at the moment so this is something that maybe we knew and we expected after winter testing. We had some ideas and today we have confirmed that we are not competitive. There's still a lot of work to do, we have to be more determined than either.

"We have to work and I'm sure we've worked 24 hours a day before this race, now we need to work 25 and it's the only way to improve the car and to win races soon. This is the target, the target maybe was to start the championship with a competitive car able to win races that was the message in the winter and all the second part of last year. We didn't arrive at that target of arriving in Australia with a winning car so we need to arrive as soon as possible with a winning car in the next couple of grands prix."

© ESPN Sports Media Ltd.