MADRID, Feb 21, 2008 (AFP) - Spain´s two-time world champion Fernando Alonso has said his Renault team have little chance of stepping up to the podium in the Formula One season-opener in Melbourne, Australia on March 16.

"We´re very far behind. We´re not in the condition to fight for anything important," Alonso was quoted as saying Thursday by daily newspaper El Pais.

"I can´t see us getting near the podium. Ferrari, McLaren and BMW are ahead in that respect. And if that is the case we can come in seventh place. Thinking of the podium is a dream, not an objective," he added.

Alonso, who won back-to-back world championships with Renault in 2005 and 2006 and came close last year with McLaren, made the comments to local media during testing Wednesday in Barcelona, the paper said.

The 26-year-old quit McLaren at the end of November after a strained relationship with his team-mate Lewis Hamilton.

Alonso also moved to defend the fellow Spaniards accused of racism following the abuse directed at Hamilton from spectators earlier this month at the Circuit de Catalunya in Barcelona.

"(Former champion) Niki Lauda called me a dog last year and nobody showed their support. We´re not a racist country," he said.

"The reaction was disproportionate, you shouldn´t confuse things," he said, adding he felt the anti-racism campaign which the International Automobile Federation, Formula One´s governing body, is planning was not necessary.