Dennis Surprised by Alonso's Calmness

Alonso has carved out a 27-point advantage in the title chase despite having a car disadvantage for much of the season. It has come thanks to a consistent series of podium finishes on his part, and a lack of reliability on the McLaren.

And although Dennis has refused to give up on the title chase just yet, he has praised the way Alonso has made the most of the opportunities that have come his way.

"He's a very talented driver," said Dennis. "I think he has surprised us by his calmness, considering he is from Spain.

"He's impressive about how he approaches his races and he's also strategically very clever. He realises when it's best to settle for second and we intend to give him that realisation for the remaining races of the season.

"Undoubtedly if he gets into the position of being World Champion the first thing he's going to say is that 'there were lots of those races I could have won, but I didn't win them because I didn't need to'. But that's clearly not the case, as we can see how hard they are pushing."

Although Alonso only needs to outscore Raikkonen by four points at next weekend's Belgian Grand Prix to land his first World Championship, Dennis still believes that their team can still stop him.

With McLaren and Renault well clear of their opposition in terms of pace, Dennis is well aware that a single retirement from Alonso could change the whole outlook of the title chase.

"Of course it's not over yet," added Dennis. "If he doesn't finish the next race, and that's a possibility, and we go into the last three races with a 17 points deficit, everybody can understand it's possible.

"Equally, if we cut the gap from 27 to 22 going into the last three races, it's possible. And until it's impossible we will still try to beat him. And when it's impossible, we still try to beat him. We are here to win races."