May 14 (GMM) Fernando Alonso has warned that he is not necessarily the favourite to take pole position for the Monaco grand prix.

As the paddock and media centre fill up despite Friday being a 'rest day', the world of formula one is contemplating Alonso's dominance of the initial 180-minutes of free practice.

But Ferrari's Alonso told the Spanish news agency EFE: "Pole position is still far away.

"There has only been Thursday practice and we have seen many sessions this year dominated by McLaren and we were also high up, and then Red Bull surprised everyone in qualifying.

"So we have our feet on the ground, knowing only that we have started the weekend well," he insisted, also predicting that McLaren will be "very strong" in Monaco.

McLaren's Jenson Button added: "The Ferrari looks very quick, and I'm pretty sure Red Bull are hiding their pace."

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