Renault vow to keep on pushing

Fernando Alonso is currently 21 points clear of Michael Schumacher, while Renault are 28 points ahead of Ferrari, but the team believe that is not enough of a margin yet to adopt a conservative approach for the rest of the season.

"Renault is clearly in the position everybody else wants to be," said Renault's head of trackside engine operations Denis Chevrier on Monday.

"We have a lead in the championship and as each race goes and we maintain it, the advantage swings towards us. At the moment, every race is a pressure race for the people trying to catch us.

"(But) it would be suicidal to start racing defensively at this stage of the year. We cannot be secure with the position we are in at the moment, and we are still pushing and taking risks.

"We will approach Silverstone like every other race: pushing the limits of our performance, without endangering our reliability. We need to seize every opportunity that comes our way."

Chevrier believes the key to Renault's strong start to the campaign has been the consistency of the R26 - which has been amongst the quickest cars at every race so far this year.

He sees no reason why that will not continue at Silverstone this weekend, which will mark Renault's 200th Grand Prix start.

"We have had one of the two quickest cars at every circuit we have raced on so far this year, and that consistency gives us the platform to achieve results," explained Chevrier. "What's more, we have had the performance at the right times, in the strategic moments of the race.

"Silverstone is another race where the ability to call on maximum performance at key moments is likely to be crucial. I am sure we will see the race decided by very close margins; that's the kind of race we enjoy."