European Grand Prix in 90 seconds

Fernando Alonso believes the last round of Ferrari upgrades will improve his prospects of winning the British Grand Prix at the modified Silverstone track.

Ferrari introduced their blown rear diffuser upgrade at the European Grand Prix and the Spaniard believes will it will help the car's cornering.

"The configuration of the F10 seen in Valencia should give us a boost in these quick corners," said Alonso.

"It is best to wait and see where we will be, but I remain optimistic."

Alonso has dropped to fifth in the drivers' championship after winning the season-opening Bahrain Grand Prix.

The 28-year-old had looked on course for his third podium finish in Valencia last month but was caught behind the safety car following a spectacular crash between the Red Bull of Mark Webber and Heikki Kovalainen's Lotus.

The track seems reasonably similar to the way it was, with a lot of very fast corners, which will not suit us that much Fernando Alonso

Championship leader Lewis Hamilton caused controversy when his McLaren overtook the safety car, but was penalised with a drive-through penalty which did not affect his race position as he finished second behind winner Sebastian Vettel of Red Bull, while Alonso finished down in eighth.

But despite the disappointing result, Ferrari were pleased with the performance of their blown rear diffuser, pioneered by Red Bull this season, on the Spanish street track.

Although the modified Silverstone track features a number of fast corners which Alonso admitted would not suit the F10, he remained positive about the car's performance this weekend.

MATT SLATER BLOG Question: when is a team-mate not really a mate at all? - Answer: when he is the only bloke on the grid you can really be compared against

"Along with the engineers, we have spent these few days studying all the characteristics of the new track layout, analysing the available information, including watching the motorcycle races held there a few weeks ago," he said.

"On Thursday morning, again with my engineers, we will inspect the track to see everything in detail, looking especially for bumps on the racing line.

"The track seems reasonably similar to the way it was, with a lot of very fast corners, which will not suit us that much.

"In Valencia, we introduced significant updates on the F10 and there will be more in Silverstone and the races after that. The development programme is intensive and I think we will see it produce results."

Ferrari team principal Stefano Domenicali believes the next three grands prix will be key to the team's title challenge.

"It would be crucial for the championships, for motivation," said Domenicali. "It's really the key before the summer break, to have the kind of result I think our team deserves.

"We know in the last two races we didn't get the results we wanted. The performance was there, but the result was not.

"Even if we know that traditionally Silverstone is not a track where we perform very well, we're really looking forward to going there and seeing what the outcome will be."

E-mail this to a friend

Printable version