Fernando Alonso is aiming to follow up his front-row qualifying performance at the Canadian Grand Prix with victory on Sunday.

10474 - Fernando Alonso eyeing victory

Alonso was within 0.2 seconds of Sebastian Vettel's pole position time on Saturday - the closest he has been all season - and was joined in the fight for the top spot by team-mate Felipe Massa. Alonso hailed Ferrari's improved performance and reckons a win on Sunday is possible.

"It's the best result of the year for the team to be second and third," he said. "Two tenths behind Red Bull is much better than we expected and a much better result than in the first six races. We are happy with today's performance from the car, the whole weekend has been very smooth for us so I'm looking forward to tomorrow.

"I think the conditions are likely to change, so maybe it's the least important qualifying of the year unfortunately. But it's always better to start at the front and I think tomorrow with all the cards on the table, we will have a chance to win the race for sure."

He said the car had been feeling better all weekend after Ferrari brought some minor updates to the diffuser and rear wing on Friday.

"The car felt competitive from yesterday and today," Alonso added. "It is a good feeling being back to the top positions, close to fighting for pole, and having Felipe in the top three too is a nice team result."