British Grand Prix 2012: Ferrari driver Fernando Alonso says team must keep improving to stay with rivals

In pre-season testing Ferrari were an F1 laughing stock, unveiling a car described by some as the "ugliest" in the team's history, with their woes compounded when it took to the track as it was worryingly slow.

But over the course of those first few weeks in the build-up to the start of the campaign, Ferrari dug deep into their reserves of wealth and manpower to provide Alonso with a winning car by the second race in Malaysia.

There was a touch of good fortune allied to the triumph given the climactic conditions that prevailed over Sepang, but since then there can be no doubt the Spaniard has extracted every last ounce of performance out of the car.

Alonso is the only driver to boast the facts he has scored in every single race, and with his triumph on home soil in Valencia 12 days ago he became the first to win two grands prix this year.

The 30-year-old goes into this weekend's British Grand Prix at Silverstone, where wet weather is set to dominate, with a 20-point cushion over Red Bull's Mark Webber.