Renault have replaced Ferrari as F1's top team for the time being

But the championship leader insists he and his dominant Renault team will be ready for the challenge when it comes.

"They will catch up, unfortunately. There is a very long season and they know what to do and I'm sure that they will come back," said Alonso.

He added: "I'm really confident. I know the team is preparing good improvements to the car, developing it constantly."

Alonso leads the Formula One drivers' standings by 10 points from Toyota's Jarno Trulli after winning the last two races in Malaysia and Bahrain.

World champion Michael Schumacher, meanwhile, will go to next week's San Marino Grand Prix at Ferrari's home circuit Imola 24 points adrift of the Spaniard.

Schumacher has just two points to show from the first three races, and he suffered a rare retirement in Bahrain as the early launch of Ferrari's new car proved costly.

At the moment we have no worries at all - we have a competitive, strong car Fernando Alonso

But Alonso knows he must make the most of Renault's superiority while it lasts.

"There is room for improvement but less than the others," he said.

"Everybody will try to copy our best things - it's normal. When you arrive in the first races you discover new things from the other teams.

"There are a lot of pictures of our car now with the other teams so it's normal that we will be a little bit less competitive at every race compared to the others.

"We will not go down but the gap with the others will be less. We hope to keep just a little room.

"At the moment we have no worries at all. We did our job in the winter and we have a competitive, strong car."

Renault will have a new aerodynamic package for Imola that Alonso described as 'very promising', as well as an engine upgrade for his home race in Spain.