Fernando Alonso’s victory in Germany saw him arriving in Budapest for the Hungarian Grand Prix on a high with his lead in the World Championship stretched to 34 points over Red Bull’s Mark Webber.
But the Ferrari driver pointed out that there is still a long way to go.
“The gap between the top five is not impossible to recover,” said the Spaniard, who is chasing his first championship victory since 2006.
“You need just one or two good races and you’re up there. So we need to keep the concentration.”
Nine years ago Alonso won his first race in Hungary, and last week’s German Grand Prix was his 30th victory.
Lewis Hamilton has slipped to fifth in the championship, having made his first retirement of the year at Hockenheim.
He stands on 92 points to Alonso’s 154, and knows he needs a strong result this weekend if he is to stay in the hunt.
“Hockenheim was as big a dent as you can possibly take,” said the McLaren driver, who had the fastest times in practice yesterday.
“There are only a certain amount of those dents you can take during a year, especially when the guy who’s leading has finished every race.”
Alonso has scored in every round this year, and has won three races. Hamilton’s only win came in Canada in June.
One challenger who is still to win this year is Kimi Raikkonen.
The Finn was elevated to third place at the German Grand Prix after Sebastian Vettel was penalised 20 seconds for passing Jenson Button off the track.
The Lotus driver, who took a two-year sabbatical before returning to the sport this year, has notched up four podiums and is fourth in the drivers’ standings, six points ahead of Hamilton.
Hungary is a popular Formula One race destination for Finnish fans, and there will be many flags and banners supporting ‘The Iceman’ in Budapest.
McLaren’s Achilles’ heel has been tyre wear and grip in the wet and the forecast for tomorrow is storms.
The other team that are suffering headaches is Red Bull, who have been forced to change their engine maps after the Renault engine’s mid-range torque levels in Germany were judged to be unacceptable by the FIA.
“I am quite confident that nothing will change,” said Vettel, when asked if the ruling will affect his car’s performance in round 11 of the championship.
The Hungarian Grand Prix marks the last race before Formula One takes its month-long summer break.
Top 10 In Championship
1. Alonso (ESP) 154 pts, 2. Webber (AUS) 120, 3. Vettel (GER) 110, 4. Raikkonen (FIN) 98, 5. Hamilton (GBR) 92, 6. Rosberg (GER) 76, 7. Button (GBR) 68, 8. Grosjean (FRA) 61, 9. Perez (MEX) 47, 10. Kobayashi (JPN) 33.