Alonso adamant he will fight for victory in the Hungarian Grand Prix

The Spaniard has been the most consistent driver in the last three races, having finished second in Valencia and Nurburgring, and having won at Silverstone.

He reckons it will be very close between his team, McLaren and Red Bull, but he is optimistic of fighting on top yet again.

"I think it's going to be pretty close, so that's good news for us," said Alonso. "In the first races it was unthinkable that we could win. We tried to get podiums and get close to them.

"Now we approach the weekend as we approached the last two: knowing that in qualifying we can be up there in the top five, but we can be second, fourth or first as it's not very clear who can fight for pole.

"And then in the race I think we can be up there with them as it happened at the Nurburgring. It's going to be very tight between the three teams."

He said he was happy with his day's work after managing nearly 70 laps in total in both sessions.

"I am pleased I was able to do so much running, especially from the point of view of studying the tyre degradation, which at this track is always a significant factor.

"The track is still very dirty, as is the norm for a Friday at the Hungaroring: however, we know it will improve each day and by Sunday afternoon, it will be much more rubbered in than today. We saw that McLaren looks very strong, as indeed it was last weekend.

"Now we must try and improve the car, especially in the third sector of the track, where we seem to be suffering more than most."