• British Grand Prix

Alonso delighted with championship gain

Fernando Alonso closed up on Sebastian Vettel and put more distance between himself and Kimi Raikkonen in the championship © Associated Press

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• Race:
• British Grand Prix

• Drivers:
• Fernando Alonso

• Teams:
• Ferrari

Fernando Alonso said third place in the British Grand Prix was a "fantastic result for us in terms of the championship".

While Alonso only picks up 15 points for third, he makes a big gain on championship leader Sebastian Vettel who failed to finish the race following a gearbox problem. Alonso said he was delighted to be able to close the gap to 21 points but said the result shouldn't mask what was a poor weekend overall in terms of Ferrari's pace.

"Obviously the result has been fantastic result for us in terms of the championship," Alonso said. "It's very difficult to get 15 points more than Sebastian in any weekend of the championship but even more when you have a difficult weekend like we had here in Silverstone. So definitely a good amount of points in the pocket this weekend, but we cannot forget that we have not been good enough and the next race is in five days' time; we are in free practice at the Nurburgring and we need to raise our game because this is not enough."

Alonso was following Sergio Perez closely late on when Perez's left rear tyre exploded and he admitted he was lucky to not be affected by the debris.

"I was close, it was a scary moment. I committed to overtake him on the right and I was lucky because if I committed to go on the left maybe I have some the tyres coming through in to my face and my fingers etc. So I was lucky there.

"Of course there are safety concerns - we are at 300kph - but [Pirelli] are the experts so they will know the answer."

© ESPN Sports Media Ltd.