BUDAPEST (AFP) - Fernando Alonso on Sunday tried to distance himself from speculation that he is considering a switch from Ferrari to partner defending champion Sebastian Vettel at Red Bull next year.

The two-time champion Spaniard said he was not aware that his management had gone to speak to Red Bull boss Christian Horner during the Hungarian Grand Prix and blamed the rumours on the media and Formula One's four-week European summer break.

"Always with four weeks with no Formula One it's a very dangerous period for us, and the media, but hopefully we will have a quiet summer," he told reporters.

He continued in enigmatic vein when pressed for an answer by the BBC and laughed when he said he could not say if he knew if his management had spoken to Red Bull.

He added: "I'm very happy. Of course, we need to improve the car if we are going to have chances to win the world championship." Alonso has won two races this year - in China and in Spain - but has become increasingly frustrated at Ferrari's inability to be competitive in qualifying.

He finished a distant fifth in Sunday's Hungarian Grand Prix won by Lewis Hamilton of Mercedes and is now 39 points behind the defending triple world champion Vettel in the title race.

But his hopes of gaining Vettel's support for a switch to the Milton Keynes team as a replacement for retiring Australian Mark Webber were not encouraged.

In an interview with reporters after Sunday's race, in which he finished second behind Hamilton, Vettel said he would prefer to be partnered by Kimi Raikkonen, who finished third for Lotus, than Alonso.

"Well, I have to be careful," said Vettel. "But I know Kimi on and off the track and he has always been very straight in every way with me so I think I would prefer to have him even if I respect Fernando completely as a driver."