Monday 24 March at 12:26 : Fernando Alonso is resigned to a difficult season scrapping for the tail end of the points.

The Spaniard was asked by the newspaper Diario AS, after finishing just eighth in Malaysia, if he feels "powerless" at the prospect of a seemingly uncompetitive season in the Renault R28.

"Yes, a little," he answered, explaining that Sepang was particularly frustrating as his car seems to lack the top speed of many of its rivals, making overtaking difficult.

"I feel a bit of frustration knowing that, more or less, I will be unable to do much else in Bahrain.

"I think we have to get used to this. In Barcelona we will have some improvements in the car, but so will all the other teams, so the championship is basically going to keep its tone.

"We saw it last year and every year -- the cars that win the first two or three races, keep winning races. There are not going to be any big surprises for the rest of the season," he predicted.