Alonso says drivers can only hope Pirelli tyre changes will work

Pirelli is introducing news tyres at this weekend's German Grand Prix, featuring a Kevlar-belt rather than the steel belt that has previously been used.

It is hoped that this change, allied to stricter limits on tyre pressures and camber settings plus a ban on tyre swapping, will prevent a repeat of the blow-outs that marred the British GP.

But speaking on the eve of the Nurburgring race, Alonso says that all he and his rivals can do is 'hope' that matters have improved, because there has been no testing of the new products so far.

"After what we saw in Silverstone, we now go to the Nurburgring, confident we can see an improvement," Alonso said during a promotional appearance for Ferrari.

"I know that various modifications have been applied and let's hope that means all of us drivers can race in safe conditions.

"At the moment, we can't make any predictions, because no one has tried them and we don't know what and how many benefits they can bring, apart from trusting in the fact that it won't be dangerous to race."

As well as tweaking the construction for this weekend's race, Pirelli will bring all-new tyres to the Hungarian GP.

These will feature the 2012 construction with the 2013 compounds and will be tested for the first time at the forthcoming young driver test at Silverstone.