Alonso adamant he will win title

The Spaniard endured a troubled race at Silverstone - making a poor start, clashing with team-mate Felipe Massa on the first lap and then getting hit with a drive-through for overtaking Robert Kubica off the track.

Those incidents left Alonso down in 14th place at the end of the race, and more worryingly 47 points adrift of Lewis Hamilton in the title chase.

But despite that setback, which came after big disappointment in the European Grand Prix, Alonso remains adamant that he will triumph at the end of the season.

"I think we will win. Yes," said Alonso. "I think we lacked points in Valencia and Silverstone, but these are some moments of the championship where we needed to show that we want the championship and that we are a contender. I am more convinced than before this race that we will win the championship."

Alonso said the race was made hard from the off - when clutch difficulties meant he lost a lot of places off the grid.

"The start was not good," he said. "We had some clutch problems all weekend. The start from the formation lap and at the end of the pit lane were not good either, so we were not full of confidence for the start, and unfortunately it was true.

"We had a poor start and then, in the first couple of laps, we were fifth. We tried to overtake people in the stops, but it didn't work because Robert was still in front of us after the stop.

"We had to attack to make some places and then we overtook Robert. But then I had the penalty and the safety car was deployed so we lost 14 positions in the drive-through.

"Obviously from that point it was difficult being in 18th position, so we tried to enjoy the race, make some overtaking, make some show."

When asked whether he felt the drive-through penalty was a bit harsh, considering he had no opportunity to give the place back to Kubica, Alonso said with a resigned smile on his face: "It is not my job. I drive the car. What the stewards say is always right, so that is it."