With the temperature at the track already hitting 30 degrees today, the air-conditioned Ferrari Media Unit provided a welcome cooling off period when Fernando Alonso tackled his usual Thursday press meeting.

Asked to look back at his passing move on Vettel at Silverstone, the Spaniard admitted it was a bit special. “That move at turn 9 was a bit risky,” he said. “It was a one-off. I’d hope not to repeat it, as there’s too much risk of not finishing the race. If you are fighting for the championship, you need to step back a bit and think of scoring points every weekend. So hopefully, we won’t see it again, as it will mean I am fighting for the championship!”

As for the German GP, the Ferrari man felt the weather would play an important role. “Being realistic, this will be another tough weekend, with hot temperatures and running the Soft and Supersoft tyres automatically means tyre management will be necessary in these temperatures,” he explained. “In past races where it was hot, we were not so competitive. Here we have some new parts and hopefully they will bring us some performance. Our target is to beat some of our main competitors from second to fifth in the Constructors’ championship, where it is very tight and will be to the very end of the season. We need to reduce the gap to Red Bull and increase it if we can to Williams and McLaren, that are becoming very strong. I think it will be interesting. I have won three times at Hockenheim, twice at the Nurburging [European GPs] every time we come to Germany we seem to have a good weekend, so let’s hope we continue that trend this weekend.”

Asked if he was talking to any other teams regarding his future, even though he has a Ferrari contract, Fernando smiled before replying. “Every year now I get asked this question in July, maybe since I started in 2003. I haven’t talked with any other team and it’s not my priority. We have to score some good points this weekend and get some good results this year.”