Alonso forces F1 showdown as Vettel sweats over reliability

With one more race to go in the Formula 1 season, Fernando Alonso still has the opportunity to rack up his third career world title — and his first since joining Ferrari in 2010. But in Brazil next week the Spaniard will have to overturn a 13-point deficit on championship leader Sebastian Vettel, effectively meaning that fourth place will be enough for the Red Bull reigning champion, even if Alonso manages to win his first Grand Prix since Hockenheim in July.

On Sunday in Austin, Alonso did pretty much everything that could have been expected of him after his Ferrari once again showed a lack of pace in qualifying. Alonso snuck onto the podium in third after starting in seventh position on the grid, but he was never in a position to challenge the front two of Lewis Hamilton and Vettel. The McLaren driver's victory over the German keeps Alonso's chances a little more alive, but realistically only a mechanical failure would appear to offer any hope for the Spaniard at Interlagos.

Vettel seems to agree, telling the press that he is worried about the alternator failure on teammate Mark Webber's car at the US Grand Prix. "Reliability is a concern; it's unfortunately our third alternator failure this year, which is a ticking time bomb," Red Bull's technical head Adrian Newey told Britain's Sky television.

For his part, Alonso was happy to have kept the title open going into the last race. "We are going to think that it is still possible. We may win or lose, but we won't give up until the checkered flag."