"Ferrari, McLaren, BMW and Renault are not at the front of the grid, but these are the best teams in F1 so no one should count us out yet," the Renault driver told autosport.com.

"This is just the first race of the season, so it's like the first match of the Spanish football championship.

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"Even if Real Madrid and Barcelona lose their first matches, we all know they'll be the ones fighting for the title in the end."

Alonso finished fifth in the opening race of the season in Australia and is confident of at least matching that at Sepang.

"Sepang is totally different to Melbourne and so I expect our car to be more suited to the circuit," he said.

Despite suffering from an ear infection, a Renault team spokeswoman said Alonso should be fine for the first practice sessions tomorrow.