Ferrari drivers downplay slow start

Kimi Raikkonen is hopeful his Ferrari team will be more competitive on Saturday after a low-key practice session for the German Grand Prix on Friday

The Finn finished down in 16th position, with team-mate Felipe Massa in 12th.

Raikkonen admitted his car was difficult to drive, but he reckons today's times were not representative of Ferrari's real pace.

"The car was quite difficult to handle today, but I'm pretty sure we can find a solution for that," said Raikkonen.

"If you look at the Fridays we are not usually very fast, but it all depends on how much fuel everybody is running. We'll see what we can do tomorrow."

The Ferrari driver believes his team is as strong as it was at the British Grand Prix, where Massa finished in a season-best fourth place.

"I think we are more or less like in the last race," he added. "The car is more or less the same. Hopefully it's going to be a bit better but like I said I think we are more or less where we were in the last race.

"As I said the car was difficult to drive today, so it's no surprise the lap times are not so good. I'm sure we can find some solution for the set-up."

Brazilian Massa also downplayed today's times, which he reckons are not a reflection of how strong Ferrari is.

"I think it was a reasonable day for us. Even if we are a little bit behind, it's not really representative. We can be much more in front, we can fight I hope in the top five.

"If you look at the lap times they are not so impressive, but for different reasons, I think."