Ferrari to keep developing 2010 car

Another bad race in the bag and now 47 points behind, Fernando Alonso still thinks he can win his first world championship with Ferrari in 2010.

It was rumoured before Silverstone that the Italian team would need to perform strongly in Britain, Germany and Hungary or its focus would switch to next year's car.

Updates for the F10 showed promise in Valencia and Silverstone, but the actual results of both rounds were bad.

Alonso said on the radio after finishing fourteenth on Sunday: "Heads up guys, we can still win the championship."

"Things are not going well and it will be difficult, but I am convinced of winning," the Spaniard, who set the fastest lap of the race at Silverstone, is quoted by the AS newspaper.

"Half the championship is gone but the car is better now.

"With last year's points system I would be 18 points behind and everyone would say it is possible.

"Before Silverstone we thought we might be able to fight for the championship but we had to check that the car was right after the evolution of Valencia.

"We have seen the car is fast and I see more chance of being champion now that I did on Friday," added Alonso.

Team boss Stefano Domenicali confirmed to Italy's La Gazzetta dello Sport that Ferrari will "continue to push on the development of the F10".

"Clearly, the championship situation is looking complicated but we remain convinced we can still fight for the title," he added.