F1: Alonso targets idols Senna's title haul

Formula One championship leader Fernando Alonso set his sights on matching Ayrton Sennas career haul of three world titles after equalling his boyhood idols number of podium finishes.The Spaniard finished third two weeks ago in Italy to claim his 80th podium spot, putting him level with the late Brazilian legend.He said he could scarcely believe his achievement after growing up with Senna posters on his bedroom wall. Only Michael Schumacher and Alain Prost have climbed the podium more times.I feel extremely proud, Alonso said, ahead of this weekends Singapore Grand Prix. When you equal some numbers of Ayrton Senna its always quite a big thing, especially for me.I always followed his races, I had his cars, I had his poster in my room so when you have the same (number of) podiums as him its something you cant believe.But Alonso also said he had a bigger target in mind: clinching his third drivers title, which would put him level with Sennas wins in 1988, 1990 and 1991.Alonso, who won back-to-back titles in 2005 and 2006, leads the championship by 37 points with seven races to go, starting with Sundays night race through downtown Singapore.Everything is going well in my career, I feel very well, very happy and I hope to reach more important numbers of Senna, he said with a smile.However, Alonso acknowledged that McLaren were favourites for this weekends race after winning the last three races, including two victories for Lewis Hamilton who now lies second in the standings.Lotuss Kimi Raikkonen and defending world champion Sebastian Vettel are both within two points of Hamilton, with Red Bulls Mark Webber also within touching distance.Everybodys strong at the moment and everybodys a contender. So there are still five or six drivers that can fight for the title, Alonso said.Lewis is a strong rival -- Ive been saying since February that Lewis is the one I respect the most, because I know what he can do with good cars and bad cars, and hes (lying) second.He added: McLaren have won the last three races and theyre again favourite for this one so we need to stop hopefully this dominant position.Hamilton is known to favour the tight, challenging Singapore street course, which has 23 turns as it snakes through the tropical Asian citys spectacular harbour front.Sundays race will be preceded by a minutes applause for safety pioneer Sid Watkins, who died this month. His innovations are credited with helping keep Formula One free of fatal accidents since Ayrton Sennas crash in 1994.