Alonso out to shake Hamilton

F ORMULA One championship leader Fernando Alonso will focus his attention on nearest rival Lewis Hamilton at this weekend’s Singapore Grand Prix.

Ferrari’s Alonso leads Hamilton by 37 points with seven rounds remaining, but the Briton has hauled himself into contention by winning two of the last three races to loom large in the Spaniard’s wing mirrors.

McLaren’s Hamilton is a point ahead of Kimi Raikkonen and two ahead of defending champion Sebastian Vettel, whose Red Bull teammate Mark Webber is a further eight points adrift in fifth.

Jenson Button is sixth in the other McLaren and, while he may be too far behind to mount a title challenge, his victory in Belgium means the team have won the last three races and are the cars to beat.

“McLaren are favourites to win this week so we need to stop their domination. Hopefully, we have brought some new parts to the car since Monza and it means we can do well here and at the races after that,” Alonso said yesterday.

“Everybody is strong at the moment and everybody is a contender. There are still five or six drivers that can fight for the title. Sure, Lewis is a strong driver and someone I respect as we know how good he can drive with a good car or a bad car, and he is second in the standings.

“But it is hard to focus on five drivers at once, with the