Alonso convinced he will catch Hamilton

Alonso finished behind Ferrari's Kimi Raikkonen to reduce the gap to Hamilton by two points after the Briton struggled for pace on his way to a distant third.

The Spaniard is now 12 points behind Hamilton with eight races remaining.

Sunday's race was the first time in four Grands Prix that Alonso finished ahead of his teammate, and the two-time champion is hopeful the trend will continue.

"Sooner or later we'll close up the gap," the Spaniard was quoted as saying by AS newspaper.

"Since Canada I have been quite faster than him. At Indianapolis I couldn't overtake him, and at Magny-Cours I had that gearbox problem. Here we had a normal race and I finished over 30 seconds in front of him.

"There are favourable races coming up now, like Germany and Hungary and the target is to finish ahead of Hamilton and reduce the gap. We can't forget the Ferraris, who have been faster than us again.

"If (Felipe) Massa hadn't had that problem at the start, he also would have finished ahead of Hamilton.

"With normal races, sooner or later I will reduce the gap. I must be on the podium always one step higher than him. It's good that the championship leader has more difficulties on track, and especially here in England and after pole."