Hamilton in championship mood

Lewis Hamilton may be only three races into his Formula One career but already the young Briton has targeted this season's world championship.

The 22-year-old McLaren rookie has dominated the headlines this year after confident displays in each of the races so far - and on Sunday he entered the history books by becoming the first driver to stand on the podium in his first three Grands Prix when he claimed second place in Bahrain.

When asked whether he has a chance to challenge Fernando Alonso for the title this year he responded: "Yes, absolutely, I don't see why not. I have the same car and I seem to be as competitive as him, so as long as I can keep up this consistency I feel a lot more comfortable now that a win is going to be possible."

He added: "We just have to make no mistakes, as I've said, and try to take advantage of these three or four weeks that we have until the next race, and try to keep on beating the Ferraris."

Double world champion Alonso is alongside Hamilton at the top of the drivers' championship with Ferrari's Kimi Raikkonen completing the triumvirate.

The Spaniard finished fifth in Bahrain, a disappointing result by his own standards after winning the Malaysian Grand Prix last week.

But the 25-year-old refused to dwell on his performance and instead looked at the positives going into his home Grand Prix next month.

Alonso said: "In a way I feel happy as we came away with four points and are still leading the championship, which is what is important.

"This was not a great race for me but these things happen. I was struggling for pace and overall grip which means that you can't drive the car as well as you would like.

"You always start the race believing you can win but after six or seven laps I knew that it would be tough. I couldn't keep up with the Ferraris and Lewis and in the end I had to settle for fifth."