But also happy to wait for the World Championship
Fernando Alonso said here Saturday he is prepared to wait for this year`s world title but would be more than happy to secure it with a victory in Sunday`s Brazilian Grand Prix.
Alonso put himself on pole position for the race at Interlagos when his closest championship rival Kimi Raikkonen, of Finland, made a mistake on his crucial flying lap and ended up fifth on the grid.
The Spaniard, who only needs to finish third to secure his first world crown, knows starting from pole will give him a shot at victory but he is not prepared to compromise the title for his seventh win of the year.
"I think we can start in a good way but I have nothing planned," said Alonso. "I will try to win the championship and third it is okay. Sometimes things go in the right direction, sometimes not, so we will wait and see. If I do three seventh positions in the last three races that is okay anyway, and I think the car is competitive enough to be on the podium all three races, so I will sleep perfectly tonight."
"We are on pole position so I am really, really happy and looking forward to tomorrow. But I approach the weekend and the race thinking there are still three races to go, so I am not so stressed. If you think that this is the last race or you can be champion tomorrow then for sure you feel different, but my head is looking much forward, to China. But for tomorrow I am sure we have a fantastic possibility."
Alonso was determined not to consider the reality that he could become the youngest world champion in the history of the sport little more than 24 hours after a cool performance in qualifying netted him his fifth pole of the year.
He is purely focussed on a race-by-race approach and appears to have already switched his target to helping his team fight McLaren for the constructors` world championship.
His Italian team-mate Giancarlo Fisichella will start third, just behind Colombian McLaren driver Juan Pablo Montoya and Sunday`s race is set to be a close battle between the two teams.
Renault have upped their pace significantly this weekend thanks to an improved engine specification and a whole new set of aerodynamic modifications as they continue to push right to the end of the season. After seeing McLaren dominate the recent Grands Prix, taking five wins from the last six races, Renault are now expecting to have a straight fight for victory with their closest rivals.
"For the last five or six races McLaren were too quick for us and we just hoped to win races but after 20 or 30 laps in the race we knew the best position was third or second sometimes," Alonso continued. "Tomorrow it is different. We have a good car, we are first and third and I think we can have a much more interesting race. If I can win the championship tomorrow then okay, I will smile, I will be happy. If I don`t do it tomorrow I will be happy anyway."


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