McLaren had pace despite defeat

UPDATE Denying that his pit-stop strategy was a costly handicap, Alonso bemoaned a lack of pace after finishing second in the British GP behind Kimi Raikkonen.

"We took a gamble and you never know what would happen," the Spaniard said of the team's decision to short-fuel his McLaren at the first round of pit-stops. "But today Ferrari were a little too quick and second place was the maximum."

"I am happy with second place," Fernando declared. "It is better to win but it was not possible today."

07/08/07 (GMM) Team boss Ron Dennis on Sunday denied that McLaren pole sitter Lewis Hamilton was forty seconds slower than his British grand prix rivals.

22-year-old rookie Hamilton finished a distant third at Silverstone, but Dennis said chiefs on the pitwall ordered him to 'save the engine' for much of the 60 lap race.

He told ITV: "From a very early point we knew that third was the best we could do with Lewis.

"Unfortunately, this is strategic racing. Fernando (Alonso) turned the engine down pretty much after the final stop of Kimi."

Dennis also said McLaren made mistakes with the tire strategies, having opted to spend the crucial moments of the race on the harder of the two Bridgestones on offer.

Alongside Kimi Raikkonen's victory, Ferrari teammate Felipe Massa told reporters after the race that he also could have challenged for the win if he had not stalled on the dummy grid.

Second placed Alonso echoed the claim, agreeing that Ferrari were "a little bit too quick today".

But Dennis insisted: "We had good pace most of the race and we're going away with some very valuable points."