Driven Alonso

FERNANDO Alonso provided firm evidence of his rivals' pre-race suspicions that he is a contender for Sunday's European Grand Prix.

In front of his home fans in Valencia, Alonso posted the quickest lap of the day with a time of 1min 39.283secs, just 0.056secs ahead of Sebastian Vettel in his Red Bull, and quicker than last season's pole time set by McLaren's Lewis Hamilton.

As ever, practice is never a true yardstick of what will transpire in qualifying, but it offers an indicator, and at present all the major players are in contention.