Portimao, Portugal  - Fernando Alonso has not yet made his debut at the wheel of the new Renault R29, but he already predicted Monday that the upcoming Formula
1 season is likely to be very exciting.

"This championship should be the most open and the hardest-fought of all we have had so far," the Spaniard said in Portimao, in southern Portugal.

Alonso - who won the Formula 1 World Championship in 2005 and 2006 - spoke at a press conference following initial testing in which he did not however get to drive the new car.

"Everything is possible this year," he said.

"In the past few years there have always been two, at most three drivers fighting for the title. I think this year there should be more, three or four teams and three or four drivers. I hope I am one of them."

Team-mate Nelsinho Piquet tried the car Monday, while Alonso only did a few laps on a bicycle in Portimao. However, the Spaniard is optimistic about his chances.

"My goal is to seek the title and to be the champion. There is nothing like winning the world championship," he said time and again in various languages.

However, he admitted that races might force a readjustment of expectations.

"If within three or four races we see that we are not winning, we will have to lower our goals." (dpa)