Alonso says Ferrari must step up a gear

With his lead in the Formula One standings dwindling, and with defending champion Sebastian Vettel looming, Fernando Alonso has told his Ferrari team it must step up its efforts if it is to win the title in 2012.

Alonso finished a creditable third in the Singapore Grand Prix last weekend, and could have been forgiven a grin within his helmet when he saw nearest championship challenger Lewis Hamilton retire early with a malfunctioning gearbox in his McLaren.

But the Spaniard has gone four races without taking the checkered flag, and with Red Bull's Vettel winning the Marina Bay night race, another formidable challenger replaced Hamilton in second place in the standings.

"In the end it went well but we definitely can't go on like this," Alonso said.

"It can't always be the case that my closest rival retires, as has happened in the last two races, and we can't think of carrying on to the end of the season with qualifying sessions like (Saturday) when our performance was almost a second off the best."

Ferrari team boss Stefano Domenicali agreed that improvement was vital, particularly given the nature of the tracks in the remaining six races, with South Korea and Abu Dhabi requiring similar car set-ups.

"Clearly we need to make a step forward in terms of performance, because we cannot rely purely on the misfortune of others," he said. "Having said that, we mustn't over-react."

Meanwhile, F1 supremo Bernie Ecclestone believes 2008 world champion Hamilton is now unsure whether to leave McLaren or join Mercedes.

"I don't think he knows what he will do," Ecclestone told ESPN.

"These last couple of races he has been doing very well. Before that, why he was upset I don't know, but he was definitely going to move no matter what.

"He had made his mind up he was going. Whether he has changed now I don't know."

Hamilton was initially offered a pay cut of a third on his 10 million pound-per-year (US$16.2 million) deal by McLaren, putting him on a par with teammate Jenson Button.

That was understood to be McLaren's final offer, however, it has now been suggested the team have increased that by a further 2 million pounds.