• Australian Grand Prix

Red Bull has the edge - Alonso

Fernando Alonso is confident of victory despite admitting the Red Bull is faster © Sutton Images

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• Race:
• Australian Grand Prix

• Championship:
• FIA Formula One World Championship

• Drivers:
• Fernando Alonso
• |
• Sebastian Vettel

• Teams:
• Ferrari
• |
• Red Bull

Ferrari's Fernando Alonso has conceded that Red Bull has a performance advantage over the rest of the field but believes having the fastest car does not guarantee victory.

At the first race in Bahrain the Red Bull of Sebastian Vettel qualified on pole and led the two Ferraris during the race until a faulty spark plug caused it to drop off the pace. Alonso won the event but is keeping his expectations in check ahead of this weekend's Australian Grand Prix.

"I think performance-wise Red Bull is a little bit ahead of everybody now, which is no surprise as they finished the 2009 season on a high and were able to keep the momentum," he said. "But it's one thing to have the fastest car and another thing to win the race. We naturally will try to push them as much as we can, but that will also depend on the circuit. Take last year - sometimes Brawn were very strong and sometimes they were facing difficulties. Hopefully this weekend we are strong and will fight for the win."

He added that having a good qualifying pace will be crucial this year, even if some of the upcoming races are not quite as processional as Bahrain.

"It always goes into the one-lap performance - also in the previous years," Alonso said. "But I think the pace in the race will also be important. Once again, the race in Bahrain was only the first race of a long championship. Here in Australia we've always seen very 'special' races with much safety car action in the past. There will be circuits with overtaking possibilities - maybe Malaysia and China - so we are in the part of the championship with very interesting races ahead."

© ESPN Sports Media Ltd.