Alonso, who said he believed the new Aston Martin “should be a good step forward”, pointed out that Ferrari took more pole positions than Red Bull over the final five races of last season.

“Even last year, with a very dominant Red Bull car, Ferrari were able to match the lap time and be faster than them in most of the qualifyings, so the car should be fast enough,” he said.

But he questioned Hamilton’s claim that driving for Ferrari was a “childhood dream”, alluding to recent comments in which the Briton said he wanted to be with Mercedes for the rest of his life.

“It was not his childhood dream 12 months ago, no? Or two months ago I guess, because it was a different dream then,” Alonso said.

The 42-year-old said he had had “no contact” with Mercedes so far. He is under consideration by the former world champions for Hamilton’s seat next year, despite his fractious history with the German manufacturer when he was team-mates with Hamilton at McLaren-Mercedes in 2007.

Mercedes are also known to be thinking about promoting Italian rising star Andrea Kimi Antonelli, who is making his debut in Formula 2 this year and is widely considered the next potential megastar.

Asked about his future, Alonso said: “I am aware of my situation, which is unique.

“There are only three world champions on the grid, and fast world champions, because in the past maybe there were some champions who were maybe not so committed to be fast. And I am probably the only one available for 2025. So I am in a good position.

“But at the same time, when I make the decision whether I want to keep racing in the future, the first and only talk I will have in the beginning will be with Aston Martin. That will be my only priority.

“But if we cannot reach an agreement and I want to commit to race in F1, I know I have a privileged position, I am probably attractive to other teams, the performance they saw last year, the commitment.”