B'day presents elude Alonso in Germany

Hockenheim: Fernando Alonso tried to look on the bright side on Saturday after German Grand Prix qualifying cast a cloud over his 25th birthday celebrations.

Renault's world champion, under increasing pressure in a full-on title battle with Ferrari's Michael Schumacher, was only seventh fastest while his German rival made sure of a front row start for his home race.

Even Alonso's Italian team mate Giancarlo Fisichella qualified higher up the grid, in fifth place.

"So far it is not the best start for sure," said the Spaniard, who leads Schumacher by 17 points in the championship with seven races remaining.

"It's one of the worst. But we had a terrible weekend in Indianapolis and I finished fifth. So if tomorrow is a little bit better, I can be on the podium. And if I am on the podium tomorrow, the weekend will be not so bad."

Alonso has won six of the 11 races so far this year but Schumacher has the momentum with two victories in a row and every chance of a hat-trick in what could be his final appearance at Hockenheim on Sunday.

Yet Alonso said he was relaxed and still confident. "It's not the best position to start tomorrow but we see what happens," he said.

"I started seventh also in Malaysia and I finished second. (Colombian Juan Pablo) Montoya started last here in 2005 and finished second. It's always a circuit where it's not too difficult to overtake.

"We did not have the pace today but we hope to tomorrow in the long run. "I think McLaren have a different tyre compared to us so we'll see how the degradation is for them tomorrow," he added after the team he joins next season took their first pole of the year with Kimi Raikkonen.

"Many things will happen in the race and I'm confident all of them will play to us." The alternative did not bear thinking about.

Alonso has not retired from a race in more than a year, and is the only driver to have scored points in every round this season, but any failure would blast open the championship and set up a knife-edge finale with Schumacher.

The danger for the Spaniard is that he must now start in the thick of the grid, exposing him to the risk of being caught up in any early collisions.

"Maybe we have some surprises tomorrow," he said. "We have to finish the race and we still have a good chance to be on the podium. I think the people in front will have all different tyres and strategies."