Fernando Alonso admitted he was disappointed at not achieving his main aspiration of finishing on the podium at the Bahrain Grand Prix on Sunday. Alonso finished in fifth as he lost his outright lead in the championship which he now shares with Lewis Hamilton and Kimi Raikkonen.

"After this race I'm left with a bit of a bitter taste for not having been able to climb onto the podium which was the main target," Alonso told Spanish television after the race in Sakhir.

The McLaren Mercedes driver finished 14 seconds behind eventual winner Felipe Massa. Alonso was also the victim of a classy overtaking move by Nick Heidfeld and admitted he had problems with car during the race.

"I couldn't do more than what I did, and in the end it's four points and we finished the race and as I said I tried to do the best I could," he added. "I wasn't very comfortable with the car, and in the end I did the best I could."

The good news for Alonso is that he is still head of the championship tied on 22 points with Raikkonen and Hamilton.

"After these first three races I didn't think I would be sharing the lead in the championship with the Ferraris when we thought they were on another planet," added Alonso. "So we'll arrive in Barcelona in good conditions and leading the championship."