Alonso: Silverstone suits us too

The Magny-Cours runner-up was only beaten by Ferrari's trick four-stop strategy in Renault's home race, and is in a determined mood ahead of the British Grand Prix.

"I'm feeling great coming in to the Silverstone race," said Alonso. "Magny-Cours was a strong race for the whole team, and we really forced Ferrari into racing hard for the win - not many people have done that this year, so really we should be pleased.

"I think Silverstone should suit us quite well too: you need good aerodynamic performance there, and we have that. It is a power circuit, and we were a little bit behind our rivals at the last test in June, but we have found more performance since then. I am expecting us to be very competitive.

"In terms of driving the circuit, Silverstone is one of those places where it is hard to make a real difference: every driver knows it, and we test there a lot, so the performance between the drivers is quite equal - there is not much advantage to gain from circuit knowledge.

"The first sector is undoubtedly the best - with high speed corners, it is interesting for the driver. But the third sector, which looks quite normal, quite standard, is where you can gain a lot of time if you really focus on it. The other strange thing at Silverstone is the wind direction - as a driver, it is very hard to tell what is happening. You can guess, but never be totally sure. Sometimes you need to be able to adjust very quickly."