Alonso: A great month for Ferrari

After a trying start to the Championship, which resulted in wholesale changes within the Scuderia, Ferrari and Alonso have come superior in recent races.

The Spaniard has bagged five podium finishes in six races and achieved his fourth consecutive top-three result in Hungary on Sunday afternoon.

Starting the race from fifth on the grid, Alonso made the most of the changing conditions to work his way up into third place, adding a further 15 points towards his title campaign.

"I think we are positive we can do a good second part of the Championship," he said. "The car has improved a lot, we are fighting for podiums, pole positions.

"July was a fantastic month. I am the driver who scored the most points in July, in three different conditions, at three dissimilar tracks. The team did a step onward and McLaren also did a good step forward so competition is quite fun.

"Unfortunately it was not very hot in July. We love high temperatures so expectantly August and September will be better for us."

As for Sunday's grand prix, the double World Champ will most likely wonder about what could have been had he not been bogged down at the start, losing places to both Mercedes GP drivers before coming up behind Mark Webber.

"I think in these type of conditions the race is very, very long - you need to be always paying attention with so many pitstops and so many weather conditions," he said.

"The start did not go as predicted, both Mercedes GP cars overtook us at the start, so I had to overtake Nico Rosberg and Michael Schumacher then with pit stops I was stuck at the back Webber.

"After that I was able to push with free air, and was quite quick, but for the first 20 laps we were after Mercedes and Mark."

Ferrari's Alonso expects to confront Red Bull

The Spaniard drove his improving Ferrari to second position at the Nurburgring, while Vettel was fourth.

"We have been first or second in the last three races, with three different types of circuits and temperatures.

"We saw our constancy and it puts us in a very good position for the final part of the championship," said Alonso.

Alonso trails Vettel by 86 points but the Ferrari driver is positive the gap can be closed - particularly with McLaren mounting a strong defy and collecting their third victory of the season through Lewis Hamilton in Germany.

The next round of the season is in Hungary and Alonso feels his car will advantage from the warmer climate.

He added: "I am looking forward. With a little bit more temperature in the track at Budapest it will be a help for us.

"Soft and super soft tyres for next week should be an benefit for us in the way we take care of our tyres. So in one week I am sure we will have a very attractive race again.

"McLaren did a step forward and is prepared to take victories. When there is more competition, you need to take races in a different way, you need to be ideal in all things: the start, the pit stops, qualifying etc.

"We have a small chance to get well the gap in the championship, if we do races like today, we are on the podium and Vettel is not.

"We need the best probable performance from our team and, in my case, we need the best McLaren having the kind of race they did today - but hopefully we can be ahead.

"Red Bull will be extremely strong in Budapest as we saw last year, so it is demanding for us but we are looking forward."

Capirossi: This time I’m really returning

Loris Capirossi says he certainly race in the United States Grand Prix at Laguna Seca having been forced to withdraw from the German Grand Prix less than a week ago.

The Italian planned to come back to racing action at the Sachsenring having missed the previous two races at Assen and Mugello, jokingly declaring pre-event that only he can ride his Pramac Racing Desmosedici.

However, Capirossi would then withdraw after just a single practice session, with World Superbike racer Sylvain Guintoli taking his place for the remainder of the weekend.

Nonetheless, in spite of the proximity to the next event in the United States, Capirossi insists he will return at Laguna Seca, the experienced rider reiterating the 'ownership' of his bike.

“This time I'm really recurring to the track. As I said before the Sachsenring weekend, the Desmosedici is mine, and seeing another rider on it concerned me a lot. I'm not in top form, but I've worked over the past few days to be in polite physical condition.

“The track is very tough, which isn't ideal for my situation, but I'll give 110% to be able to finish the race. I'm expecting a very challenging weekend.”

McLaren are "not nervy" by Ferrari return to form

Fernando Alonso took Ferrari's first win of 2011 in Britain with McLaren's Lewis Hamilton only coming fourth and Jenson Button being enforced to retire.

But McLaren managing director Jonathan Neale said: "We are not unsettled.

"Up until the last week we were the only ones putting up a believable fight against Red Bull."

Alonso benefited from enhanced race pace and a pit-stop error from Red Bull's leader Sebastian Vettel to win at Silverstone.

Neale shrugged off the suggestion that McLaren, who have been Red Bull's closest rivals on track in the first half of the season, have now been overtaken by Ferrari.

"I sincerely hope not," Neale responded.

"Ferrari have made steady progress over the last four or five races in qualifying. In the latter part of the [Silverstone] race as [the track] dried up, Alonso was talented to show the underlying pace difference. We are watchful of that and not at all complacent.

"Lewis and Jenson did a unbelievable and aggressive job out there racing and, but for other factors, we should have had both cars around second and fourth and we might feel differently about the whole grand prix."

While wet weather affected performance at Silverstone, McLaren say an FIA order to restrict the use of exhaust gases to generate down force had a major impact on the competitiveness of their car.

Pedrosa: I want to take pleasure in the bike

Dani Pedrosa heads into the second-half of the 2011 MotoGP World Championship looking to make the best of his condition following his inspiring ride to victory at the Sachsenring over the weekend.

In only his second race back from injury, one that ruled him out of three races to all but scupper his title ambitions, Pedrosa was champion in Germany, boosting his confidence heading to Laguna Seca for the United States Grand Prix this weekend.

Indeed, the Spaniard feels the pressure is off for him now, enabling him to enjoy his racing, not least at Laguna Seca where he was a winner in 2009 and was in argument for victory last season when he crashed out.

Even so, the Repsol Honda rider feels the circuit's characteristics will mean he struggles extra than he did in Germany

"It was nice to stop, even for if only for couple of days at home to enjoy the win in Germany with my family and friends, who also deserved to celebrate.

“The United States Grand Prix will be another challenge for me. I know that I will suffer more in Laguna Seca because there are many hard braking areas and very fast direction changes. Anyway, it will be another race and I'll try to get ready well and enjoy it as I did in Sachsenring.

“The track is very different to the European circuits and the atmosphere there is special. With the exemption of last year, when I crashed, and in 2008 when I couldn't race due to injury, I've forever had fun racing in Laguna and the victory in 2009 was very exciting.

“In the second half of the season I want to enjoy the bike and gain the best results probable and would like to close the first part of the season with a good feeling.”

Stoner caught out by Lorenzo at final turn

MotoGP World Championship leader Casey Stoner looked on course to for his fifth win of the season, as he stimulated from fourth to first in the opening laps of Sunday's German Grand Prix.

The Repsol Honda star remained in front for nine laps, but wasn't able to break Jorge Lorenzo and Dani Pedrosa, both of whom passed the Australian just after the halfway stage.

Pedrosa then broke clear, leaving Stoner and Lorenzo fighting for second.

Stoner looked to have done sufficient to hold off his nearest title rival, but left a Yamaha-sized gap at the final corner of the final lap - which the reigning world champion dived into.

"We took it easy in the early part of the race and thought we'd try to conserve the tyre and warm it up slower than we did in Mugello," explained Stoner.

"After a few laps I determined to make a move to the front to see what we could do and we were able to pull a small advantage, but too small compared to the effort we were putting in so I backed off on my pace a little and tried to stay as smooth as probable and see what happens.

"They came past me and Dani was riding so strong and was capable to get past Jorge before I got there, he built a small advantage and by the time I got past Jorge and I struggled to chase him down. I made a few small mistakes and that left just Jorge and I for the last few laps.

"I tried everything I could, riding the cleanest lap possible and trying to block my line, but Jorge came up on the dirty part of the track and I thought it would be too high a risk but he made it stick and I have to resolve for third place.

"I'm still leading the championship and I'm grateful for the points here today".

Losing second to Lorenzo means Stoner's title lead has been cut to 15 points caption into this weekend's Laguna Seca round.

Distress Rossi ready to ditch new Ducati

Valentino Rossi's fight back to turn around his Ducati fortunes hit a new low on Saturday at Sachsenring, when the MotoGP superstar capable just 16th out of the 17 riders.

Rossi's best lap time, of 1min 23.320sec came on only his sixth of 30 laps and was 1.639sec at the back pole sitter Casey Stoner.

The Italian - without crew chief Jerry Burgess for the second event in a row - also lapped 0.925sec slower than he had managed on his return from a broken leg at last year's event, when he skilled fifth on a Factory Yamaha.

Rossi, the only Ducati rider using the newest GP11.1 motorcycle - which features an 800cc engine attached to next year's (1000cc) chassis and a new seamless transmission gearbox - was almost one-second at the back the 'standard' Desmosedici of his team-mate Nicky Hayden (eighth).

As such, Rossi has now exposed that he could ditch the GP11.1 and go back to the previous version.

"We are very upset, because we are stressed very much this weekend. I am very slow and close to last," Rossi told the official MotoGP website.

"For three races now we've used the new [GP11.1] bike to try to get better on the performance of the old one.

"I tried this bike with the 1000 engine and it was not so bad, but with the 800 engine the bike became very hard to ride and I cannot load the front of the bike.

"So our show at the last three races has been very, very bad. Especially in practice. And here it has been worse.

"So now we think maybe to come back to the normal, standard, bike. I don't know when. Maybe after Brno [mid-August]. We will decide after tomorrow.

"We've tried changing more or less everything on the bike [here] and, at the end, the lap time and our act does not improve.

"So I don't know what we can do for tomorrow's race, but we won't give up and will keep annoying to improve."

Saturday marked Rossi's worst qualifying performance since he was 17th, out of 19 riders, for the 2007 Valencia Grand Prix - when he only finished five qualifying laps due to a massive accident.

Rossi to create 250th grand prix start

This Sunday's German Grand Prix will see Valentino Rossi make his 250th grand prix start, across all classes.

Up to crashing and breaking his leg in practice for last year's Italian Grand Prix, Rossi had made 230 consecutive starts; an all-time record.

Rossi will become just the sixth rider in the history of motorcycle grand prix racing to reach the 250-starts milestone, as exposed in the following table.

The nine-time world champion is at present enduring his longest losing streak in grand prix racing, having gone eleven consecutive races without a victory.

Rossi's first ever grand prix, at the 1996 125cc Brno race, came in his eleventh start.

Loris Capirossi, who holds the all-time record for GP starts, is due to come back from injury this weekend.

Rossi, Capirossi and Randy de Puniet are the only riders in the top 15 start list to still be opposing in grand prix.

Carlos Checa, Max Biaggi and Marco Melandri are also unmoving racing at world championship level and now battling for the World Superbike title.

Edwards and Crutchlow focused for German round

Experienced American Colin Edwards is looking to merge his place inside the top 10 in the overall rankings having scored points in six of the seven races he has started in 2011. Edwards is also resolute to leave Europe full of confidence ahead of his crucial home round at the spectacular and challenging Laguna Seca track in California on July 24th. His best result at Sachsenring was fourth position in 2007 and he is confident in improving and handling the performance from the Monster Yamaha Tech 3 YZR-M1 this season will be a vital advantage in dealing with the demands of the 2.281 mile track.

This weekend presents an additional big challenge for British rookie Cal Crutchlow, who will be making his Sachsenring debut. The 25 year-old is concentrating all his efforts on lively back from difficult races in Assen and Mugello recently and is aiming for a welcome come back to the top 10. Sachsenring is the shortest track on the World Championship schedule but surely one of the most challenging, the undulating layout made up of predominantly left-hand corners.

Colin Edwards:

“The last two races haven't been that fantastic but we can point to a bad tyre choice in both for that. We've got to take some liability for that but sometimes you roll the dice and gamble but the result doesn't go your way. That's all after me now and I'm just concentrating 100 per cent on getting a good result in Germany this weekend. This track is pretty extraordinary with so many left-hand turns but our chassis is much better than last year, so I'm sure the bike will be easier to ride in the tight and twisty sections. The break after Mugello has really helped my corporal condition. I've been able to get some good rest and the muscle damage about the ribs on the right side of my body isn't as painful as it was. I'll only understand how much of an improvement there's been on Friday when I get on the bike, but I'm expecting a lot less uneasiness than in Mugello where it was quite tough. Aside from 2003 when I had the fireball at the bottom of the hill, I've really enjoyed my time at Sachsenring. The German fans are really well-informed and they love MotoGP, so hopefully we can put on a good show for them. I'll be looking for a good result to take some energy into my home race at Laguna Seca, which is a huge weekend for me and one I'm already thrilled about.”

Cal Crutchlow:

"Like a lot of tracks so far in 2011, I haven't seen this one before but it looks in fact good on TV and I can't wait to get started on Friday. The track is obviously conquered by left-hand turns but I'm not worried that is going to be a big problem for me. The left collarbone I broke at Silverstone last month is fine and I'm happy with the development it is making. After all the weather disruptions of the last few weeks, I'm just hoping for a dry weekend so I can learn the track faster. And I'm also hoping for hot conditions because that will give me an opportunity to resolve some of the front-end issues I've been experiencing lately. When the temperature is hot I've had some issues with front-end feeling, so hopefully some hot weather will give us the ideal opportunity to find a solution. I'm confident I can be running back inside the top ten and receiving the results I know that the Monster Yamaha Tech 3 Team is capable of.”

British Grand Prix: Winners and Losers

Fernando Alonso, Ferrari, 1st

And it could have all gone so dreadfully wrong... had the gravel on the outside of Brook lands not been so driveable (for a few seconds it looked like he might have bogged down) in qualifying on Saturday, Fernando Alonso could have been opening the race from P17. As it was he was able to show that the Ferrari 150 Italia is more like a Paris-Dakar machine and bounced his way to safety. And then claim P3.

He also took advantage of the latest F1 politics that have imperfect off-throttle gases. If indeed it was Ferrari and Sauber-Ferrari that have refused to go back to the Valencia engines arrangements, which was proposed by the FIA on Sunday morning, then that it is the copper-bottomed answer to the question: Who has been just about for a re-interpretation of the rules?

Ferrari were already making progress in their bid to nullify Red Bull's advantage and so it's a pity that Alonso's win will now be delayed in that debate. Because Alonso looked very strong regardless of Red Bull's race mistakes and failings. While he sailed past Lewis Hamilton, Sebastian Vettel could only follow. He may not have made a racing pass of Vettel and been handed the lead by Red Bull's rear jacking problems, but he looked able of grabbing it for himself if necessary.

He was also rational enough not to get fazed by Lewis Hamilton overtaking him. Fernando plays the long game so much enhanced than Lewis. I, for one, am more than happy not to hear the Austrian national anthem for a change on Sunday afternoon.

We've heard the Italian one second for so many years that it's like a familiar theme tune to Sunday afternoons and it's reassuring to have it back. Not for the rest of the season, mind.

Overtaking Move of the Race

Lap 15: Lewis Hamilton, McLaren on Fernando Alonso, Ferrari

For those of you who have stood on the external of Copse and watched F1 cars go through at 185mph, the overtaking moves that Lewis Hamilton pulled off on Alonso and Michael Schumacher did on Petrov were simply dramatic. On television they looked good, but not as stunning as they would have done in the grandstands.

Hamilton had the same tyres on as Alonso and the same tyre wear, no DRS but totally blitzed the Ferrari - going off the racing line on the turn-in to Copse and taking a wettish line through the turn, but still keeping control and observance in front.

Michael Schumacher did pretty much the same on his nemesis Vitaly Petrov (this race he was also busy seeking out a change-of-nemesis in Kobayashi) though that was only for P15 and I'm not sure if there was a tyre mismatch, Michael having stopped previous and been out of phase with most people. Both were the moves of inspired drivers.

Winners

Sebastian Vettel, Red Bull, 2nd

The great news as far as Sebastian Vettel is worried is that he now knows that Mark Webber will be acting as his domestique in future races. He also knows that in spite of the worst the FIA could throw at his blown floor he can pretty much keep pace with Ferrari. Even if the ban is upheld, Red Bull will find ways of getting back some of their misplaced time. Also, this was a race where Ferrari didn't have to go onto the reviled Pirelli hard tyre which they don't perform well on, and which will figure in future races. A third second place in 2011 isn't precisely slumming it.

What Seb detractors will probably seize upon is his inability to get past a wily Hamilton. That more than anything else ruined his race. He surely lost more seconds behind the Mclaren than he lost in the pits.

Mark Webber, Red Bull, 3rd

Hands up those who required to be in the Red Bull debrief...? Right, so that's all of you. Mark Webber had a good race and a poor start - the fourth pole place that he's failed to convert into a win. What was magnificent was that he didn't give up and pressured his team-mate correct till the end.

Stoner on 1000cc expansion and riding style

Casey Stoner is the most victorious rider of the 800cc era. Since the 800cc motors were introduced at Qatar in 2007, where Stoner celebrated his first premier class victory, through last weekend's Italian Grand Prix at Mugello, Stoner had won 27 races. The greater part came in 2007, when he collected ten race victories en route to the 2007 MotoGP World Championship.

With a brilliant start to this season, the 25-year-old Australian has sustained to add to his tally. Through the first eight races Stoner has four wins, a second, and two thirds. The only time he's unsuccessful to finish on the podium was at the Spanish Grand Prix in Jerez when he was knocked out of second place early in the race.

Stoner has been called the fastest rider by a number of his peers, counting team-mate Andrea Dovizioso. His five poles in eight races bear that out. But now that the 800cc era is drawing to a close, we thought we'd get Stoner's opinion on the move to the 1000cc era.

Elias receives three-race ultimatum?

Toni Elias is reportedly under pressure to turn his MotoGP season around over the next three races or face the axe from his LCR Honda team.

The Spaniard, a former winner at MotoGP level, has endured a troublesome time since being rewarded with a return to the top flight as a result of his dominant Moto2 title victory in 2010.

Beginning the year significantly off the pace, though Elias has begun to set up some constancy in recent races, his results remain a far cry from the usual top ten finishes being achieved by Randy de Puniet last season.

Elias's position in the team is supported by Dorna as a way of promoting the reliability of Moto2, while Honda even complete a new chassis from the Catalunya Grand Prix.

However, sponsors are allegedly unhappy with the current results, which top out with an eighth place at Silverstone, and Elias is now under force to deliver over the next three rounds.

Furthermore, Elias is unspoken to have been experiencing a conflict of opinion with the LCR team over the set-up of his bike, a rumour apparently confirmed by LCR press officer Oscar Haro.

"Mugello was a disaster,” Haro is quoted by Catalunya Radio. “Toni has realized that it didn't go well. From Germany, [we go] back to the settings that HRC and our crew chief will make a decision and Toni to presume his role as pilot and technician. The RC212V has more than proven to be super competitive.”

Capirossi needs to ride at the Sachsenring GP

Loris Capirossi will grit his teeth used for the ninth MotoGP World Championship at the Sachsenring circuit held on July 17. The MotoGP veteran’s physical condition is not 100%, but a statement from the team assures that he "is functioning hard these days to get to the race in Germany in good condition."

"I feel better, but my fitness is still not satisfactory. I'm doing daily sessions of physiotherapy at the IM2S Medical Center of Monaco. I've previously missed two races, Mugello was really vital to me. I want to ride the bike as soon as probable,” announced the Italian rider.

Capirossi broke his ninth and tenth ribs and continued a severe contusion to his shoulder from a crash that occurred in the Dutch TT qualifying session. These injuries banned him from participating in Saturday's race at Assen as well as the Mugello weekend.

Just after the Italian Grand Prix, former MotoGP rider Sylvain Guintoli hardened with the Pramac Racing Team as a probable replacement if Capirossi would be unable to ride at the upcoming World Championship round.

Webber to bring Vettel back to earth

Vettel has conquered all before him this season, winning six of the eight races thus far, a performance that has seen him open an 87-point gap on Webber and McLaren's Jenson Button.

Webber admits that the place he finds himself in is a strange one.

"It is astonishing to be a little bit disappointed sitting second in the Drivers' Championship," he told the Daily Mail.

"It almost certainly hasn't gone completely as I would have liked but it is a fine line isn't it?

"Seb is obviously on a phenomenal run, which has made it solid for all the rest of us. There is only one guy that is really wrapped with his period up to now and that is Seb."

Despite Vettel's superior showing, Webber is still confident of clipping the German's wings, starting at this weekend's British GP where Webber triumphed last time out.

"He (Vettel) can be caught," insisted the resolute Australian.

"But he can also go on a roll again after he is caught. For somebody to outscore him by 80 points will be a phenomenal effort. So you have got to keep boxing and hang in there. Someone has got to get on a roll with some victories themselves."

Webber's future at Red Bull has been the subject of much discussion, with the 34-year-old's contract failing at the end of the season and a host of drivers connected to his position.

However, he isn't too worried that he doesn't yet have a deal in place for next year.

"Red Bull have been great and they are very keen to keep me, no query about it," said Webber.

"We are talking but there is no real importance from both sides. Timing is critical in anything in life. At the moment I am still getting some great results and I'm very, very close to getting some extraordinary results again," he added.

Comeback race for Rossi and Hayden at Mugello

Valentino Rossi was left last at the start of the Gran Premio d’Italia TIM to find himself in twelth place at the end of the first lap, but aggravated by the enthusiastic crowd, he caught the group of riders in front of him and climbed to sixth place. The Italian had a better pace in the race than he had all weekend, thanks to a setup change that his technicians made previous to the warm-up.

Nicky Hayden had a great launch at the start and at once climbed to fifth place, but he went long in a corner and couldn’t stop on the dirty part of the asphalt. He went off the track and re-entered in last place. He climbed as high as tenth place after that, and even though he was disappointed by the lost opportunity, he was pleased that the work done over the weekend has helped him find a good feeling with his GP11.

Valentino Rossi:

"We have a bike that is dissimilar in many aspects from the one we started the season with. We’re aware that it needs to undergo further development from a technical point of view, but even at this stage it has shown that it has a good margin of enhancement just with setup. The weather didn’t help us at Assen, and the same was true here. We had imperfect time to work this weekend, so once again we made a significant setup change on Sunday morning. It was a step forward, and in the race I was able to have a better rhythm than in practice, although the enhanced behavior in corners was accompanied by a small loss of grip. Anyway, we think it’s a good direction to try in the future with our setup. I lost some time on the start because the clutch slipped, and I was almost last into the first turn, with a lot of ground to make up. It’s a shame because I’ve always managed to do well on the starts with the Ducati this year. Still, I’m not sure how long I would have been able to stay with Spies and Simoncelli even if I had started better. The gap on lap times was less than at Assen, which is optimistic, but it’s still quite large, about eight tenths. We have to keep working in arrange to stay with the Hondas and Yamahas. We’re all doing all we can, both us at the track and the guys at Ducati. It’s certainly a difficult situation, but to come here to Mugello and see all these flags and fans cheering forever provides a big thrill and gives us motivation to return to the front.”

Ducati Team prepared for home race

Valentino Rossi won’t be connected by Jeremy Burgess - The crew chief has returned to Australia to be with his wife, who must undergo a series of medical exams and a probable urgent surgical procedure. The team and the Ducati technicians expand their best wishes to Burgess and his family, and they look forward to welcoming him back for Round 9 at Germany’s Sachsenring in three weeks. In the meantime, Burgess’s crew chief role will be packed by Max Bartolini, who normally works as Team Technical Manager on the Ducati Team. Fabiano Sterlacchini will fill that role this week.

Ducati thanks Team Pramac, which always works very directly with the manufacturer, for making Sterlacchini available. He normally works as Team Technical Manager and Track Engineer for Loris Capirossi, who will miss the Italian GP due to injury.

The Mugello track is one of Valentino’s favorites, as the Italian has won there no less than nine times in the various classes. Nicky Hayden earned a Mugello podium in 2006 and is also very fond of the circuit. As always, the team will be supported by thousands of ducatisti, who will be reassuring from two beautiful grandstands at the Correntaio corner.

Valentino Rossi:

“First of all I’d like to wish good luck to Jeremy, who won’t be able to join us this weekend due to very important individual reasons. We’ll miss him very much in the garage, but we look onward to seeing him at the Sachsenring. In the meantime, we must try to do well at Mugello. We’ve ridden there with the GP12, but because our bike is an 800, it responds a little in your own way to adjustments, and it’s also in its first phase of development. It will be vital to quickly find the right path for the setup, as it’s important that we get better in every session in order to qualify in a good position. The track is one of my favorites, and I’ve always done pretty well there. Returning after last year’s accident is no problem for me, because I enjoyed riding there during the fresh tests, as I always do. I hope there will be a big crowd and that I’ll be able to do better than we’ve managed awaiting now, because this is a very important race.”