Alonso: F1 title race has tipped in Ferrari's favor
updated 8:43 AM EDT, Wed September 5, 2012
STORY HIGHLIGHTS
- Fernando Alonso leads drivers' championship by 24 points from Sebastian Vettel
- Two-time world champion believes he has the "advantage" in 2012
- Alonso claims pressure "is with the others" as season enters final eight races
- Spaniard says Italian team's home race at Monza provides extra motivation
(CNN) -- Formula One championship leader Fernando Alonso believes the race for the drivers' title has tipped in Ferrari's favor.
Ahead of Sunday's Italian Grand Prix, the 31-year-old Alonso leads the standings by 24 points despite not getting past the first corner in Belgium last weekend.
"We know in some races the McLaren will look strong and win the race and in some races we will be strong and win the race, and in some others it will be Red Bull," said Alonso, who will be fit for Ferrari's home race at Monza after recovering from injuries sustained in a spectacular crash at Spa on Sunday.
"I think in this combination and this mix of different winners we will have the advantage."
Title leader Alonso fit for Monza after Belgian Grand Prix horror crash
Fernando Alonso recovers from car crash
Fernando Alonso's drive to the top
How does Jenson Button keep fit?
Two-time defending champion Sebastian Vettel capitalized on the chaos of the Spa pileup to finish second at the Belgian GP and move ahead of Red Bull teammate Mark Webber in the overall standings, cutting Alonso's advantage by 10 points.
But the Spaniard believes his competitors have less room for error with eight races to go in the F1 season.
"The position that we have in the championship now, we can afford one mistake, we can afford one bad race, but the others cannot, so I think the pressure is with the others at the moment," he told CNN.
"The car I know is 100% also without any big damage. We had to change 90% of the car but it is ready. I think it won't have any impact on the Monza race and that's important, and hopefully we will recover some points."
Button wins in Belgium in race marred by spectacular first corner crash
Alonso viewed six drivers -- Red Bull's Vettel and Webber, Kimi Raikkonen of Lotus, as well as McLaren's Lewis Hamilton and Jenson Button -- as threats to his chances of a first crown since he won for the second successive year with Renault in 2006.
"In the next two or three races that will become two or three contenders, so I think it is a very crucial part of the championship now," he said.
Alonso hopes that home advantage will give Ferrari an added edge at Monza.
"For the team it's extra motivation, for the mechanics and the supporters and all the people that are in our team," he said.
"We want to give them something back, so it is important that we arrive with full confidence and at some optimism in the team, and we can give them a good result."
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