Fernando Alonso 'in best shape of his Formula 1 career'

The Spaniard, currently leading the 2012 world championship by 15 points, reckons his driving has improved as a result of experience and the lessons learned from past mistakes.

In addition, he says his physical condition is better than it ever has been, and that he is no longer experiencing the leg and shoulder pain he has suffered in silence in recent years.

"I think this year is my best condition in my career," he told reporters at Hockenheim. "You are a better driver every year because you improve from mistakes; you always learn constantly in Formula 1.

"Physically it's also my best season so far because in previous years, you didn't know, but all the leg and the shoulders, something always had some pain or I didn't have good preparation.

"This year so far, and hopefully it stays like this, I have arrived 100 per cent at every race, so it's good. I'm quite pleased with my performance."

Alonso admitted that fortune had sometimes favoured Ferrari during the early races of 2012, but said he felt Red Bull had moved to the fore over the most recent grands prix.

"It's true also that the factors that play around this championship so far have been good for us," he admitted.

"I made a mistake in Q2 in Australia. Apart from that mistake, I probably wouldn't change too many things that I've done so far, so this is good news, because you always have mistakes here and there.

"Red Bull has been a little bit quicker than everybody else, not for just the last two or three grands prix, I think since Bahrain. They lost pole position in Barcelona and at Silverstone, but the rest [of the poles] were all Red Bull.

"In the last six grands prix they have had pole position in four, so they are definitely a little bit ahead in terms of performance and wo we need to catch up."