Alonso expects McLaren to recover

Alonso is confident McLaren will recover from their problems

Fernando Alonso said he was confident he would be a title contender again next year despite his impending switch from Renault to struggling McLaren.

The world champion won his fourth race of the season in Monaco on Sunday while McLaren's Kimi Raikkonen retired after battling with Alonso for the lead.

Until Monaco, McLaren had struggled to get on terms with Renault this year.

But Alonso said: "It is a new challenge with a new team but I am sure we will fight for the championship next year."

Alonso's Monaco victory puts him 21 points - more than two clear wins - clear of closest rival Michael Schumacher of Ferrari in the championship.

Seven races, four wins and three seconds is a perfect start - if I keep doing that the championship will look very good Fernando Alonso

He admitted that his chances of winning a second consecutive title were increasing all the time.

"I have to concentrate on keeping this consistency in the championship," he said.

"I think I won it last year without making any mistakes, and by finishing with 15 podiums and now I have seven. So if I keep like this, then I can fight for this 2006 championship.

"Every race is getting more and more interesting and important in terms of the championship.

"Basically, you cannot win anything in the races, but you can lose a lot and this time Kimi lost a lot and I didn't win too much.

"But in seven races, four wins and three seconds is a perfect start - and if I keep doing that in the next seven then probably the championship will look very good."

Raikkonen's car caught fire in Monaco while disputing the lead

Alonso said winning the sport's most prestigious race was "very special", but that it was "difficult to feel something more than Spain", where he won two weeks ago.

He added that he was confident of another strong performance at the British Grand Prix on 11 June.

"I think it will be good for our team. We were very competitive last year fighting with Juan Pablo (Montoya of McLaren) for victory and in the tests in the winter we were extremely quick and we will be full of confidence to fight again.

"The [Michelin] tyres were really good in the winter, compared to [Ferrari's supplier] Bridgestone, also, so hopefully we can have the chance to be fighting again."