Ferrari is wary of McLaren's recent performances © Getty Images Enlarge Related Links Teams:

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Ferrari technical director Pat Fry has acknowledged his team has a lot of work to do to get on equal terms with McLaren's recent performance.

McLaren has won the last two races, although Ferrari's Fernando Alonso still remains comfortably clear of both Lewis Hamilton and Jenson Button in the drivers' championship. Nevertheless, Fry is wary of McLaren's pace, while he believes Alonso would have been a match for the Red Bulls at Spa-Francorchamps had he not been taken out in a first lap accident.

"From a technical point of view, the outcome of the race shows that the McLaren is very strong on very different circuits like Budapest and Spa, therefore we still have a lot of work to do to get to their level," he said. "Red Bull too was competitive but I think that Fernando could have had the better of them if he'd raced.

"We now look forward to the special event that is Monza, both because it is the Scuderia's home race and also because it is held on a track that is now unique on the current calendar in terms of its characteristics. It's hard to say now if we will be competitive at the highest level, but clearly we will do all in our power to succeed."

Fry said Ferrari also faced a lot of work this week to give Alonso a fully-prepared car for Monza.

"Unfortunately, incidents like the one that put Fernando out of the race are part of racing, even it's not nice to see a driver have to retire after a few metres, when both he and his team are totally blameless. The relief obviously stems from the fact Fernando is fine: it was a very risky situation and seeing one car fly over his, a few centimetres above his helmet left us with our hearts in our mouths for a few tenths of a second. What is not looking so good is his car: there will be a lot of unexpected work to do for the guys in Maranello to get it prepared for Monza."