Alonso hunts vital points

Renault currently lies 95 points behind a seemingly uncatchable Prancing Horse in the constructors' battle but, more significantly, just 12 points ahead of BAR-Honda. The two have been fighting for best-of-the-rest position for the first half of the season while McLaren and Williams dropped further and further back.

With a rejuvenated McLaren fighting back in the new MP4-19B and BAR threatening a return to the podium this weekend, Alonso knows that scoring points is essential after neither he nor Jarno Trulli failed to pick up any at the British Grand Prix.

"Personally, I was pretty frustrated after Silverstone, because I spent the whole race following slower cars and just couldn't find any clear track. So hopefully, we will have a problem-free weekend so that we can run at our proper pace. However, this year, it has become more and more difficult to predict who will be strong at which circuits: we have expected to be good in some places where we were not, and have had a nice surprise at other circuits, like France.

"A lot will depend on the tyres, of course, but we will hope to be one of the main challengers to Ferrari on Sunday afternoon. We need to start scoring points again to maintain our championship position."

Hockenheim is certainly not a bad circuit for Renault to make a comeback for the German circuit requires a well balanced car with good traction, characteristics seen on this year's R24.

"Well, with the current layout, the most important areas are getting good mechanical grip, and also very good traction - but keeping the top speed quite high into the hairpin at turn 4," Alonso added. "The R24 has been strong in these areas, as we have seen at circuits like Monaco and Montreal, so I think we should be optimistic. Equally, the team will be looking to bounce back from Silverstone with a good result."