Alonso was recently asked for his thoughts on who his main rivals for this year's World title may be and surprised many by naming seven-time World Champion Michael Schumacher."The most dangerous Champion for me is always Michael," said the Ferrari driver. "Now in January if I have to choose one name I have to say Michael.
"He is seven-time Champion, he has nothing to prove. He had a difficult season but he is still a Champion. He is still super class and if the car is right he will be a contender."
And while there is no doubting Schumacher's pedigree, there are some doubts about whether he still has what it takes.
The German, who returned to F1 last season with Mercedes GP, finished ninth in 2010, 70 points behind Rosberg and 184 adrift of World Champion Sebastian Vettel.
Asked whether he was "annoyed" that Alonso had chosen Schumacher over him as a potential threat, Rosberg told Auto Moto und Sport: "No, that doesn't interest me.
"But I found it a bit strange. Why not say Red Bull will be his nearest rival? That would be obvious."
Meanwhile, Rosberg has confirmed that he'll have the honour of debuting Merc GP's new W02 when it hits the track at Valencia on February 1st.
"I am going first," the 25-year-old told the DPA agency. "It will be interesting to see how it (the car) feels. You know pretty quickly how good it is going to be."
However, the German has downplayed his chances of winning the World title, although insists it will happen one day.
"It is probably unrealistic to go into the season saying we will win the Championship, but we will succeed sooner or later. We are on the right track."
Source: Planet-F1
