Alonso keeps faith in Ferrari

Fernando Alonso looks set for another frustrating season with Ferrari.

The former double F1 World Champion may have won races last season and this, but his team have not been able to show form on a consistent basis and even with the talents of the Spaniard behind the wheel, the Ferrari has not been competitive at the top end of Formula One for the past couple of years.

In Bahrain this weekend do not expect that form to change. Alonso has openly admitted that he is in for a difficult time in Bahrain and feels the best he can hope for is a 'damage limitation exercise'.

'I am well aware that in Sakhir, we can expect another difficult weekend, which is only natural, partly because of the track characteristics and also because the car is the same one we had in Shanghai,' Alonso wrote on the Ferrari official website.

'Both the Scuderia and I have a good record in Bahrain: the team has four victories here and I've got three, the last of which was also my debut race for the Prancing Horse. But the past counts for nothing in this sport and this weekend will be all about damage limitation for us.'

Presumably the 30-year-old means that he hopes to still score good points, but will not be in contention for a race win.

Lewis Hamilton has shown that consistency can pay off this season, the McLaren driver has finished third in all three races so far this year and leads the Formula One World Championship.

With Alonso's surprise win in Malaysia, the Ferrari driver remarkably is third in the championship behind the two McLaren's and only 8 points behind Hamilton.

If Alonso can remain within touching distance while the car is not performing, that could put the Spaniard in a strong position if Ferrari can develop the car throughout the 2012 season.

'The championship is very open and there are a lot of teams that can aspire to victory, but clearly we need to make a leap forward to be more competitive if we want to aspire to coming out on top at the end,'

'We have to take the step forward as soon as possible. I have faith in the team and I know everyone at Maranello is giving their all so that we can reach this objective.'