Alonso cautious ahead of 100th GP

The McLaren driver arrives in Istanbul seven points behind teammate Lewis Hamilton and eager to fight back after finishing in fourth place in Hungary following a penalty that relegated him to sixth on the grid.

Alonso, who will take part in his 100th Grand Prix this weekend, admitted he is glad to be back in action following the summer break, but the Spaniard warned that Ferrari could be hard to beat at the Turkish circuit.

"I am very excited," Alonso told reporters during a Vodafone event in Istanbul. "Always after a long break like we have just had for three weeks you really look forward to getting in the car again.

"This time it is Turkey after the break, which is a very exciting race, and it should be a positive weekend.

"I have never won here - I have two seconds places from the last two years so I really want to have a victory here. Hopefully this weekend will be my chance but it could be difficult. You never know what will happen in the race. There are four drivers that have a chance to win and hopefully I will be the winner."

He added: "It is difficult to say what the performance of our car will be at this track. I guess the Ferrari will be strong, as the long tracks with long corners such as Magny-Cours and Silverstone have been better suited to them, so it could be very difficult.

"But for sure we have made improvements to the car over this period and we will try very hard to beat them this weekend."