Ferrari favourites in Britain, says Alonso

Schumacher, looking for his third win of the season this weekend, last week broke the testing lap record of the Barcelona circuit, where most teams prepared for the Silverstone race.

And although Alonso admitted the McLaren team are looking stronger, the Spaniard claims Ferrari will be the team to beat.

"We will see how the McLarens are because in Monaco we saw a big improvement in their performance and we need to see if they confirm the improvement here in a normal circuit but I think the battle will be more with Ferrari," Alonso told reporters at Silverstone.

"They were very, very quick last week in Barcelona so they arrive as the favourites for the race. But we did a good test here in the winter. High speed corners are good for us as we saw in Barcelona, so it should be a good track for us."

Ferrari were the only top team not to join the test at Silverstone at the end of April, but Alonso reckons that will not put them at a disadvantage.

"I think it doesn't matter too much to be honest," he said. "It will affect the first day because you always lose two or three runs to set-up the car, to set-up the pressures, ride heights and things like that.

"But after this two or three runs I think we are all in the same level, and the car are well enough prepared for any circuit after seven races.

"For Ferrari there will not be any problems to be ready."