Alonso: Silverstone suits Ferrari

Fernando Alonso feels that Silverstone will suit the Ferrari better than the Valencia street circuit, where he triumphed last time out.

Alonso leads the Drivers' Championship by 20 points from Mark Webber, after becoming the first double winner of 2012 with victory at the European Grand Prix.

And the Spaniard feels he will be even stronger at due to the high speed nature of the Northamptonshire circuit.

"I think the characteristics of the track will suit the F2012," said Alonso.

"Therefore Silverstone should be a little bit better for us. We saw that these faster tracks suited us earlier in the year and also at the Mugello test.

"Therefore I expect to see a good Ferrari with me and Felipe this weekend. However, a lot will depend on the weather and it seems there is likely to be more rain than dry conditions. So we will have to be ready for everything.

"We will be hoping for a smooth qualifying, choosing the right moment to go on track and then, in the race, bring home as many points as possible."

However the Spaniard is not getting carried away with his results and has kept the pressure on Ferrari to improve, by insisting other cars are still quicker.

Sebastian Vettel and Romain Grosjean both showed better pace than the victorious Alonso at the European Grand Prix before both were forced out with alternator failures.

The double-World Champion admits the team have done a fantastic job to close the gap from the start of the season, but knows further improvement is needed if he is to win a third title.

"We are happier with situation now," Alonso added.

"But in terms of performance we know there are still a few cars quicker than us so we are still not completely happy.

"The job the teams have done in the last three or four months has been amazing recovering maybe 1.5 seconds. So this is good news, not just for this Championship, but for the near future of the team. We had problems with the wind tunnel coloration, so this is good for the next project.

"Now we are in a good direction, but there is still a lot to come from the team in the next couple of races in terms of performance in the car.

"I think regarding the points it is not a situation that we were expecting to be in. Leading the Championship is good news for us but also we are very honest with ourselves and we know there are cars quicker than us.

"We need to close that gap if we want to fight for the Championship in the next couple of races, if not we know before too long they will be in front.

"We are at race nine of 20, so Championship position is important, but the first thing is to fix the car."