Alonso says Ferrari not aided by rule changes at Silverstone

Alonso took Ferrari's first win of the season at Silverstone, after outperforming Red Bull duo Sebastian Vettel and Mark Webber.

The British track saw the introduction of the ban on off-throttle diffusers, a ban that has now been removed.

Alonso, however, says Ferrari's pace was the result of real progress and not the rule changes.

"The rule changes, as we said there, didn't change anything, because it's not like in Valencia we were tenth," said Alonso.

"We finished second in Valencia and first in Silverstone, so I don't think the rule changes were beneficial for anyone in particular."

He conceded, however, that his chances in the race were aided by the problems Vettel had during his pitstop.

"The pitstop problem helped in the race, because it's always harder to overtake on track," he said.

"In some races it's true they passed us during the pitstops because they were quicker than us and this time they were slower and we beat them this time. Sometimes they get it right and in Silverstone they got it wrong."

Alonso also said Ferrari will need to confirm in Germany that it has also improved its qualifying form, after he finished just a tenth of Red Bull in Britain.

"We'll have to confirm it here. There's no doubt in Silverstone we were a tenth away, but we only had one run and it rained when we were on the second set of tyres. We don't know if they were holding something back and maybe the gap would have been bigger with the second run.

"We'll see here. Qualifying is important, but the race is where the points are awarded and that's what we focus on."