F1: Alonso ready to begin his blue period in Barcelona

FERNANDO ALONSO is hoping to ride to a rare home victory on Sunday on a tidal wave of emotion and a sea of blue.

In ten attempts in front of his adoring fans – eight Spanish Grands Prix at Barcelona and two European Grands Prix in Valencia – Alonso has managed just one victory back in 2006 with Renault. Now with Ferrari, Alonso starts as one of the favourites ahead of Sunday's race at the Circuit de Catalunya, especially as more than 120,000 people are expected to roar him on to a hoped-for win.

"This race has always been a great one for me in terms of emotions and results," said Alonso, currently lying third in the title race 11 points behind reigning champion and leader Jenson Button. "My best memory is winning in 2006, which is my only home win, so I hope either here or in Valencia I can dream of a victory again."

One would expect the Alonso fans to be sporting the red of Ferrari, but in a deal under licence with the Maranello marque, thousands of T-shirts have been printed in blue, the predominant colour on the flag of Asturia, Alonso's home region in northern Spain.

The pressure is on Alonso, 28, to deliver after starting the season, and his Ferrari career, with a bang with a win in Bahrain.

After that he was involved in a first-corner collision with Michael Schumacher in Australia, was caught out by the rain in qualifying in Malaysia and jumped the start in China. "That was not good," said Alonso. "It was a mistake from me, but it is in the past and it won't happen again."