Champion denies 'dawn of Alonso era'.

Fernando Alonso refuses to accept that he now has the Formula One world at his feet, and point-blank denies that he will ever match the title tally of the retiring Michael Schumacher, despite taking back-to-back crowns in 2005-06.

Speaking in the afterglow of his second place in Brazil, which was good enough to confirm his retention of the drivers' championship, Alonso insisted that competition in the top flight would probably prevent him from establishing the sort of dominance that Schumacher enjoyed until the last couple of years.

"Formula One changes a lot every year - the rules, the cars and, sometimes, you are not able to win and, sometimes, it's impossible," he said, "I think what is true, in the last two years, [is that] we were the best out there - the package [of] Renault, Michelin and me. We became champions twice and that is the only truth.

"From now on, nobody knows what is going to happen. Hopefully, I can fight for the championship, be in the top three or the top four with all the championships I do from now. But it's difficult to repeat what Michael did, [to hold] the dominant position for so many years."

Although, had he not taken the 2005 title, he would still have become the youngest world champion with this year's triumph, and is still only 25 years old, Alonso admitted that he does not expect to enjoy the run of success established by his predecessor, suggesting that he would not hang around long enough to rack up as many crowns as the German, who pushed him all the way to the last race this season.

"I don't think so because I will not be that long in Formula One," he proclaimed.

On 2006 form, Alonso's run of titles may come to a halt next season, when he switches from Renault to McLaren. The Woking team endured its first winless season for ten years, despite the efforts of Kimi Raikkonen - who departs to fill Schumacher's boots at Ferrari next season - and Alonso, who will be the only world champion in next year's field following the departures of Schumacher and Jacques Villeneuve in 2006, knows that he will have to work hard to overcome the likely threat from Renault and the Scuderia next year.

"I knew that 2006 would be a good season for us, and Renault should be on top, fighting for the championship," he said, "I knew that, this year, there would be the possibility to become champion, and we were ready to take it, but, nevertheless, I feel that, for the next three years, at McLaren, I will also have the opportunity to have a good car.

"There were some very good races [for McLaren this year], like Monza, where Kimi was second; Bahrain, where Kimi started last and finished third; and Monaco. But there were some races that they were not very good too, so I think they were a little bit up and down. Hopefully, we will find some consistency and, if we are regularly on the podium, why not fight for the championship?

"It is too early to say. What we can say is that Felipe will be one of the favourites next year. I think both Ferrari drivers are always in the position to win races and championships and so I think Felipe, Kimi, the Renault drivers and, hopefully, the McLaren drivers will be, also with Jenson and Rubens, be the favourite ones. But until the fourth or fifth race you will not see a clear picture.

"Renault, for sure, will have a good car but, hopefully, I will find new motivation with McLaren - a new challenge, new people, a new way to work - and this is really very important for me. I'm looking forward to this new thing."