Oct.20 (GMM) Fernando Alonso on Saturday said not qualifying on the front row in Brazil essentially dashed his hopes of securing a third consecutive F1 title.

The disappointed Spaniard, who was fourth quickest at Interlagos while his main rival and teammate Lewis Hamilton qualified second, admitted to pessimism ahead of Sunday's championship finale.

Alonso, 26, needs to score four points more than Hamilton to successfully defend his back to back drivers' triumphs of 2005 and 2006.

"I've thrown away a little bit of my only possibility to win the race," he said on Saturday.

"It is very difficult to overtake because everyone is so close together in lap times.

"We will have exactly the same strategy, stops, laps, so there is no chance to overtake with the strategy or be lucky or something like that."

Alonso said only a unpredictable occurrence on Sunday, such as when Hamilton oddly beached his sister McLaren in a pit entry gravel trap two weeks ago in China, will revive his hopes of staying formula one champion.

"It's not that I'm pessimistic, but I am realistic," he insisted. "I need a race like China or something like that, a mechanical problem, or a very unlucky race for my opponents.

"If everything is normal, it's over for sure."