Despite a string of car problems and driver mistakes that have blighted his 2010 campaign since winning the season-opener in Bahrain, Ferrari driver Fernando Alonso says that he is still confident of his championship chances this year.
Alonso led home a Ferrari 1-2 in Bahrain after long-time leader Sebastian Vettel developed a technical problem on his Red Bull, but since then, Alonso's season has been fraught with problems.
The Spaniard was involved in a collision with Jenson Button's McLaren at the first corner in Australia, then suffered an engine failure after a strong clutch-less drive through the field in Malaysia. He then jumped the start of the Chinese Grand Prix and most recently crashed in practice at Monaco, starting the race from the back of the field.
But despite his troublesome run, Alonso remains third in the championship standings, just three points behind the table-topping Red Bull pair.
And although the Red Bull team look indomitable at the moment, Alonso still feels that he is still in a position to feel confident about his season ahead.
"If you think that, of the first six races, four times I found myself last or thereabouts after the opening laps and I am third in the world championship, three points off the leader, I have no reason not to be confident," the Spaniard shrugged happily on Wednesday.
Despite that, he felt that it was important that the Italian team had a strong weekend in Istanbul this coming weekend, particularly with the event marking Ferrari's 800th race in Formula One.
"Istanbul will be a very important race for us, not just for this championship, but also in terms of the history of Ferrari, as it will be the Scuderia's 800th grand prix," Alonso smirked.
"That will be a further motivating factor to get a good result and try and make it to the podium, hopefully ahead of the Red Bulls.
"The team has worked very hard in the days following the Monaco Grand Prix and I leave for Turkey in a confident and optimistic mood."
Alonso's team mate Felipe Massa also acknowledged the milestone the team would reach in Turkey in an interview on Ferrari's official website.
"First of all it's a great pleasure for me to be a small part of these 800 grands prix for Ferrari," the Brazilian grinned.
"I will try my best to go to Turkey and fight for the victory to have a nice celebration of this 800th grand prix. It shows how Ferrari is important for the sport. It's a fantastic feeling to be inside this nice story."
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