The Spaniard will look to race ahead this season after a dull patch in recent years © AP Images

errari’s new ace Fernando Alonso is all set for a serious title challenge after 3 tough seasons without a chance to grab his much-awaited third championship crown. In this Q and A session he exudes his trademark confidence and determination as he looks ahead to the mouth-watering season that lies ahead.

There won’t be much change. As far as refueling is concerned, the strategies will be the same with the teams. The most important thing is to work in partnerships, to have fuel that is efficient have as less fuel as possible to start the race because the quantity will be very high. We are very confident. Shell and Ferrari have been working together for a long time and we can have a very competitive package in that aspect.

No doubt, the expectations are very high. Especially in my case, we have been talking about Ferrari-Alonso for the last three or four years. I have been answering questions about Ferrari for four years and now I am here. For 2010, everybody is expecting a lot from us and we are ready for the challenge. We know we are one of the favourites but we respect everybody and we will do our best.

Felipe is a great teammate for me first of all because he is a latin character like me. He speaks Italian with me so the communication is very fluent. Also, Felipe has been in Ferrari for the last four or five years and this is important for me. When you arrive to a new team, it’s important that your new teammate is not new to the team because you can be a little lost with the technical people etc. So with the experience he has, Felipe can help me a lot. I am really happy and looking forward to work with him.

© AP Images

I don’t think so. I think this is a perfect combination because the people in Maranello, our technical staff are passionate about Formula One, about motor racing. To have two latin drivers who are great characters, have great emotion and passion is a great combination.

Michael coming back is great, first of all for the sport as the 2010 championship will be very interesting for the people outside. The media attention is big because of Michael’s return. This is good because after 2009 which was so-so for Formula One, I think we can come back again to the highest level of worldwide communications (sic). For us though, it doesn’t change too much. After being in Ferrari for so many years, we want to beat him.

I think both. When you win a race, you don’t think any particular name. With Lewis in Mclaren and Michael in Mercedes, we have great challenge this year to beat. This is good motivation because we want to be the best. And if we want to be the best then we need to beat the best drivers in the best cars. We are confident we can do it. I am happy and motivated.

It’s not easy to pick favourite for 2010. In 2009, we had a mix in the overall performance of all the cars. Therefore 2010 isn’t easy at all to pick up the favourites. But surely, Red Bull, Mclaren, Mercedes GP and Ferrari are the four main favourites. The good thing is that we are in that group. We need to wait for the test to have a better picture.

There’s only one target: winning the world championship.