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Fernando Alonso believes the fact he and his two McLaren rivals have experience of winning the world title could play to their advantage as the championship pressure increases over the decisive phase of the season.

The battle for the drivers’ crown is currently a five-way fight with just 20 points covering Red Bull’s Mark Webber at the head of the standings to Ferrari star Alonso in fifth.

But unlike two-time champion Alonso, 2008 title winner Lewis Hamilton and reigning world champion Jenson Button, Red Bull rivals Webber and Sebastian Vettel have yet to experience a championship-winning campaign, with the latter never having even lead the standings.

Alonso feels there is little to choose between the five contenders, but thinks experience could become a factor – adding that he rated his own chances as 50/50.

“It’s hard to say who is my strongest rival: we are all almost equal,” he told Ferrari’s website.

“Maybe, Hamilton, Button and myself, who have already won a title, will tackle the final rush in a calmer way, having already experienced something similar.

“Percentage chance [for him]? I’d say 50%, which is the normal state of affairs…”

The Spanish ace got his own challenge back on track after a run of disappointing races with a first and second place respectively in the final two rounds before Formula 1’s summer break.

He is confident that, as long as Ferrari keeps its head and continues to work hard, then he will be closer to the points lead than is currently the case in time for the final few flyaway rounds in October and November.

“It only took us two normal races to be fully back in contention for the title,” Alonso said.

“It’s true we are still behind in the classification and it is always better to be in front, but I am convinced that in the final sprint, by which I mean the last two or three races, we will be closer to the top than we are now.

“The important thing is to remain calm and concentrated and to do our job well.”

Alonso was speaking at Ferrari’s traditional winter retreat of Madonna di Campiglio where he was with team principal Stefano Domenicali to help launch a book which celebrates 20 years of the squad’s annual Wrooom ski event.

And while he will now go on holiday as Ferrari begins its mandatory two-week summer shutdown at Maranello, the Spaniard admits it will be almost impossible to take his mind completely off racing and the challenges that lie ahead over the final seven races.

“It won’t be possible to switch off my mind completely over these two weeks: I will try and relax and do a bit of sport, but at least once a day, maybe just for 10 minutes, I will inevitably think about the next race in Belgium,” he admitted.

“I think it will be the same for everyone and the timing of the break, does not make any difference. After a few unlucky races, which went badly for various reasons, we are now on the right road.

“The car is much improved and so that makes me more optimistic and has seen the whole team grow in confidence.

“In Spa, we will have a few more things and we hope they help us progress still more: the others will do the same, which means we will have to be better than them and quicker in terms of development work.”ITV-F1