British Grand Prix: Kimi Raikkonen says Ferrari isn't falling back

Ferrari lost out in the battle to be best of the rest behind Mercedes at Silverstone, with Raikkonen and Sebastian Vettel ending up on the third row behind Felipe Massa and Valtteri Bottas.

When asked if Saturday's performance showed Ferrari is losing ground, Raikkonen said: "I don't think so - I don't see that we are sliding back.

"Every race is different. We didn't get exactly what we wanted today, but in these windy conditions we know it's not easy for us.

"But it's not like a disaster. There's no point to talk about if we are sliding back."

Ferrari team principal Maurizio Arrivabene hinted last time out in Austria that Pirelli's tyre compound selection for Silverstone would hurt his team, and Raikkonen believes that is one of the factors behind its performance this weekend.

"It depends on the conditions, the circuit layout, and which tyres are used," said the Finn.

"It wasn't an ideal day for us but I don't expect this to suddenly be the true story.

"It's not something to worry about like it's going to go on all year, but we can see that we have big work to do."

Vettel accepted Ferrari does not appear to have enough pace this weekend, and he expects the Mercedes-powered Williams cars to be tough to battle with in the race.

"We were simply not quick enough," he said. "We didn't extract the best out of our car.

"We know it's difficult to pass a Williams on track - they are very fast on the straights.

"We've had races where we were quicker but we've been desperate to pass.

"They are not the best cars to have in front, but hopefully we can have a good opening lap and turn it around."

Raikkonen also played down the significance of defeating Vettel in a straight fight in qualifying for the first time this year.

"I've always said it doesn't make me any happier - I don't care if he's in front of me when we are in these positions," said Raikkonen.

"Yes, it makes a difference if you are P1 and P2, but it doesn't make me happy to be in front of him in the positions we are.

"Maybe people look at it differently but it doesn't matter."