Alonso shrugs off mass damper effect.

Fernando Alonso has played down the effect of losing Renault's controversial mass dampers after getting to within a tenth of Michael Schumacher in qualifying for the Turkish Grand Prix.

Having had the aerodynamic device outlawed in the run up to the 14th round of the championship, it was initially expected that Renault would struggle in Istanbul, particularly as the last time they raced without mass dampers, at the German Grand Prix, the team were some way off the pace.

Nonetheless, despite looking initially lacklustre in practice, Alonso and Giancarlo Fisichella were able to annex the second row of the grid, just off the pace shown by Ferrari, prompting the world champion to insist a good set-up is arguably more pivotal than mass dampers when attempting a good time.

"Every person will write his own opinion on this," the Spaniard said. "As we said, obviously if there was not an advantage with the mass damper we didn't have in the car for one year, obviously, so there was something there, but without anything, we managed to set up the car properly and to be half a tenth from Michael in qualifying so it's not a (bad) result, we are not tenth and twelfth like some people hoped."

Meanwhile, Alonso accepts that the outcome of the race could be decided at the start, where he is hoping his car's traditionally fast starting nature will see him take the fight to Schumacher down into the tight first corner. Failing that, Alonso is confident that his Michelin tyres will be able to out last the Ferraris Bridgestone rubber beyond ten laps and possibly help him pass through the pit stop window.

"Every start is different and sometimes you plan something and it doesn't work, because the start itself changes a lot, so we need to see how the Ferraris start, how the Renaults start tomorrow and if I have the opportunity, for sure... we know the only overtaking you can do these days in Formula One is probably just at pit stops and the start, so if you have a chance it's not good to lose it.

"I think we will be - depending on the tyres and performance in the long runs - we will make sure in our tyre selection and in our set-up to be a perfect set-up for the race. I think it will be dominated by tyre performance after ten or 15 laps, which nobody knows."