Fernando Alonso has said his 2011 season will hinge will on an update at the British Grand Prix, but warned miracles are not possible.
Ferrari has been targeting the British Grand Prix as a turning point in its season for some time and Alonso said the success of an "important improvement" would determine his ability to fight for wins this year.
"Everything depends on the car," he told the Formula Santander website. "If the car is equipped to win races, there is enough time to come back. But being on average one second behind Red Bull on all the times makes it impossible to come back. Therefore, right now, we are awaiting an important improvement to the car. If it arrives in the next few races we will be on fighting terms, but if everything continues to be the same, logically this is impossible. Miracles cannot be done."
Asked if the update would be on the car at the British Grand Prix, Alonso said: "Yes, England is a very aerodynamic circuit, very similar to Barcelona where we were very far behind and were lapped in the race. Therefore in Silverstone if we manage to be at the front, it means we have a very competitive car for what remains of the year, but if we are still so far behind, it will be difficult, and we will have to fight for partial grands prix victories: podiums, fastest laps and those types of more secondary things."
Alonso has no wins to his name this season as the 2011 Ferrari has failed to deliver on the promise it showed in testing and the wind tunnel. But Alonso, who recently signed a contract with his team through to 2016, said he would not swap Ferrari for any other team, even Red Bull.
"Perhaps I'd have three or four world championships [at Red Bull], but I wouldn't be as happy as I am now nor would I be driving a Ferrari. I think that it is more important for a racing driver to drive for Ferrari than it is to have a world championship."
He added: "Ferrari is Ferrari. It is difficult to put it into words, but you are driving for the best car manufacturer in history and it offers you the opportunity to represent the prancing horse throughout the world, collaborating and testing the road cars they make. The private F1 teams or those which do not have a car brand behind them, are simply that, F1 teams, and Ferrari is much more."
Alonso also revealed that he had not set foot in the McLaren motorhome since he left the team in October 2007. But he said he would not have a problem if his ex-McLaren team-mate Lewis Hamilton came to Ferrari.
"Why not? I have no problem with Hamilton and neither did we have one at McLaren. I have the absolute respect for him. As long as it wasn't at McLaren, sharing a team with Hamilton would be good.
"I don't have problems in sharing a team with anybody. I have been lucky to be with great drivers, although when they share with me it seems that they have lost speed and have become bad drivers. Therefore, I like to beat my team-mate, I like to race to the maximum and if a great driver comes and I also manage to beat him, perhaps what I do is valued more."
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