Fernando Alonso surprised by Ferrari pace

Spa: Fernando Alonso said he was surprised by his Ferrari team`s speed and competitiveness after he qualified fourth on the grid for Sunday`s Belgian Grand Prix.

The two-time world champion had forecast that Ferrari would struggle but after a wet session he said he had been pleasantly surprised by the outcome.

"It has been a good surprise. We`ll see how we can finish it tomorrow. Hopefully we take some good points," said the Spaniard.

"We expected a strong Williams here, but I think the wet masked their true pace a little bit so tomorrow maybe I expect them to be very competitive in the dry.

"I`m in front of the Williams, I`m one second in front of my team-mate, who has won here four times, so definitely it has been a perfect weekend so far for me."

Alonso, who finished second in the previous race in Hungary, believes another podium finish is possible.

"We`ll see -- I think the possibility is there. And I think we are in a good position with fourth. We have some people around us with good race pace, like [Daniel] Ricciardo and the Williams, and we`ll need to fight hard to be on the podium.

"But we know that Mercedes has had some mechanical problems in the last races so we need to be there to take any opportunities."

His Ferrari team-mate Kimi Raikkonen finished the session in eighth place and a full second behind Alonso.