Alonso not fazed by Raikkonen's winning pace

Mar.22 (GMM) Fernando Alonso on Thursday said Kimi Raikkonen's winning pace in Australia a week ago is not a worry.

Both the Spaniard and Raikkonen's Lotus managed to finish ahead of Sebastian Vettel in Melbourne, after the Red Bulls dominated qualifying.

"The (race) pace of the Lotus was very good, but nothing we cannot do," Alonso is quoted by Spanish media reports including El Confidential newspaper.

Fernando Alonso, Ferrari

Photo by: XPB Images

"They (Lotus and Raikkonen) had a very clean race with no traffic, and I think this time (in Malaysia) we can be closer to them," added the 31-year-old, who counts Sepang among his very favourite layouts.

As for the pace of his 2012 championship rival Vettel, who qualified on pole in Melbourne but finished just third, Alonso said: "Their pace was very different from qualifying to the race.

"For them this will be a very important weekend to see what happens, but that's not our problem. We will just try to do our best and then see what the others have done."

According to reports by Finnish broadcaster MTV3, Lotus could even take a step forward in Malaysia, after a new passive double-DRS system was spotted on the black and red E21.

The broadcaster's Ossi Oikarinen noted: "A few teams tested it in the winter, but there is a question mark because it is quite a complicated system.

"It would be quite useful in Malaysia, China and Monza."