ISTANBUL - World champion Fernando Alonso is confident of claiming victory in Sunday`s Turkish Grand Prix, which would allow him to keep championship rival Michael Schumacher at bay.
The Spanish Renault driver was satisfied after sealing third place on the grid behind Schumacher, who was beaten to pole position in Saturday`s qualifying by Ferrari teammate Felipe Massa.
"I am very happy, to be honest," said the Spaniard, who finished a tenth of a second behind his Ferrari rival.
"We knew that for one timed lap Ferrari were too strong today. We believe more in our pace for the race. We are in an optimistic mood."
Alonso has watched Schumacher cut down his championship lead to ten points, notably since the German recorded victory at the United States Grand Prix to relaunch his title challenge.
Seven-times world champion Schumacher then won another two races, in France and Germany, as Renault`s early-season dominance faded.
However Alonso said he is not feeling the pressure.
"I think you always have pressure in F1, it doesn`t matter in which part of the championship you are in," he added.
"In a top team you need to do the maximum each race.
"We still have to do our own race, the maximum we can, no mistakes and when the race finishes, second is the maximum you can do.
"We are looking forward to fighting for the championship in whatever championship we are trying to win and I`m going to do my best, for sure, to do my race, for sure to help the team and to help myself to score as many points we can to make the turn in the championship."
08/26/2006 16:43 GMT