Alonso happy to settle for second

Fernando Alonso has revealed he would gladly have signed up for second place prior to Sunday's British Grand Prix, although could not help but feel bitter at seeing another victory slip away.

For the second time in three races Alonso led heading into the final few laps, only to find himself overhauled. An emotional winner in Valencia a fortnight ago, Alonso appeared poised for back-to-back victories on Sunday, but on lap 48 of 52 he had no answer to Mark Webber's pace and finished runner-up.

"When you lead for almost an entire race, but are overtaken just a few laps from the finish, it does leave something of a bitter taste in the mouth," said Alonso. "But as far as I'm leading the championship, I'm more happy than worried. If Mark was leading I would be worried about losing another seven points."

He continued: "But the weekend in general was fantastic for us. After my win in Valencia we didn't know how the car would perform at such a very different circuit as Silverstone.

"We then had a very difficult qualifying, but we survived, taking pole position.

"In the race the car performed well, we avoided any contact, any accidents that might have happened at the start or in some other battles.

"In the end we picked up more points than we probably expected.

"If you had told me on Thursday I'd be going home with 18 points to my name, I would have signed for that right away."