British Grand Prix: Alonso expects more woe after poor qualifying

An ERS issue in practice threatened Alonso's participation in qualifying at Silverstone, and once he managed to make it out he could only manage 17th.

That was one place better than team-mate Jenson Button, as McLaren failed to get one car into Q2 for the first time since April's Chinese Grand Prix.

"We struck the maximum, a couple of tenths in front of Jenson," said Alonso. "I could not be much quicker than that.

"It's going to be like this in Hungary; in Belgium it will be worse, in Monza it will be worse because of the power effect. It is the way it is at the moment.

"It sounds strange, but this is the best qualifying of the year for us. Being only 1.5 seconds off the leader [in Q1], on the new mediums as Ferrari had as well, and on the second longest circuit of the calendar.

"In total time we are closer to the top. It's the best news, but we need to keep improving because obviously it's not enough."

Button, who was a quarter of a second slower than Alonso, admitted it was another "really tough day, especially in front of the home crowd".

"Even though the public and the fans know our situation, you still always hope for more at your home grand prix, but it wasn't our day," said the Briton, who has never finished on the podium at Silverstone.

"It's difficult for both of us, we're both used to fighting for wins and being at the front, and it's tough for everyone in the team.

"Us sticking together and developing together is really key. It's a massive bonus for us all we have so much experience we can bring together."