Alonso ready for Spanish inquisition

Ferrari star Fernando Alonso believes the team will be more competitive following the in-season tests in Mugello.

The Italian team were not expected to impress in the opening four races and the talk was of "damage limitation" rather than challenging for pole positions and race victories in the build-up to the 2012 campaign. However, Alonso emerged victorious in the Malaysian GP and is only 10 points adrift of current championship leader Sebastian Vettel after four races - with four teams winning a race each so far. The teams return from the in-season tests in Italy for the Spanish GP this weekend and Alonso believes the update packages they have added ahead of Sunday's GP will allow them to be more competitive. Writing for his blog on the Ferrari website, Alonso said: "We will be counting on making a step forward but we won't know until Saturday if we have and, if so, how big a step it is. "We have updates on the F2012, some of which we tested in Mugello last week, and others which we will try out on Friday in free practice. "Having limited the damage in the first four races this year, we must turn things around. "If we are not on pole in Barcelona then it's not the end of the world. The important thing is to make progress, first this weekend, then again in Monaco and after that, in [the subsequent races in] Montreal, Valencia and Silverstone."