Highlights

Alonso hopes to beat Hamilton at home

(Reuters)
Updated: 2007-07-06 10:15

Double world champion Fernando Alonso would happily shatter McLaren team mate Lewis Hamilton's hopes of winning Sunday's British Grand Prix.

Asked by reporters on Thursday whether he might have a second's regret if he crossed the finish line ahead of the 22-year-old Briton at Silverstone, Alonso replied: "I don't think so".

Rookie Hamilton leads the Spaniard by 14 points in the championship after eight races and is competing in his home grand prix for the first time.

He beat Alonso on the Spaniard's home territory in Barcelona in May, finishing second behind Ferrari's Felipe Massa, and the champion said he would not hesitate to turn the tables.

"If here I am second and he is third then I will cross the line very, very happy," Alonso told reporters.

The Spaniard, the winner at Silverstone last year with Renault, clarified reported comments earlier in the week that he felt McLaren would favour the British driver this weekend.

"I think we will have the same approach with both cars," he said. "The only thing I said was that if Lewis wins the race, the team will be more happy because it is the home grand prix for him and all the team is English.

"But it was the same in Barcelona," he added.

"The team were doing the same possibilities for both drivers. But for sure if I had been winning the Spanish Grand Prix, the team would have been extremely happy because we saw all the atmosphere around the race.

"On the Sunday morning, everyone on the team was pushing to help me and motivate me and it will be the same thing here. If Lewis wins the race it will be a fantastic thing for all the people."

The Spaniard said it was hard to predict the outcome on Sunday, with Ferrari resurgent after a one-two in France last weekend following a run of three McLaren wins in a row.

"You never know what is going to happen. Sometimes we believe that we can win the race and be competitive and we are not so competitive, as happened at Magny-Cours," he said.

"Sometimes we think the race will be quite tough and quite difficult, as at Indianapolis, and then the race becomes not too difficult. Every grand prix becomes a surprise, a new battle between Ferrari and McLaren."