Fernando Alonso has admitted it is difficult for Ferrari to win races at the moment, but reckons he is in the best form of his career.
Alonso currently trails championship leader Sebastian Vettel by 92 points in the drivers' standings after the first seven races of the season, which he described as "the best seven races of my career". He said he had come close to victory at the last two rounds but Red Bull's pace had put victories just out of reach.
"At the moment, it's difficult to win a race," Alonso said in Thursday's press conference ahead of the European Grand Prix. "There is no doubt that in Monaco and Canada we had the opportunity to win the race - that is fact, it's not a dream. We were very close, we were 10cm from winning in Monaco. The last two races the trend is quite good and we have improved and seem to be competitive.
"The characteristics of the circuit in Valencia are similar to Monaco and Canada so maybe here we will again be competitive. But we must not forget that we are sometimes one second behind in qualifying and with this it's difficult to win."
But he still believes the title is possible if Ferrari improves its car to be the best in the field.
"We need to have the best car," said Alonso. "If we have the best car we can win the title, there is plenty of time, plenty of races to recover. We need to try and win every race we go to, sometimes it is impossible, but that is our aim.
"We need to respect our opponents and we need to understand that some races and some places we cannot do that. This is also some pressure that you have when you are Ferrari - you need to win every race you go to, you need to win every championship you go to."
Alonso also played down suggestions that Red Bull will be slower at this weekend's European Grand Prix as a result of the FIA's ban on changing engine maps between qualifying and the race.
"I don't think the qualifying order will change massively," he said. "The Red Bull is superior in qualifying and the race as well. In the race we seem a little bit closer."
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