Dennis confident of a McLaren win

Kimi Raikkonen and Juan Pablo Montoya will line up fourth and fifth but, with McLaren traditionally sacrificing qualifying pace for race strategy by heavily fuelling their cars, Dennis is confident about his team's position.

"To establish where you are to the rest of the grid, you are more likely to see it in the first or second qualifying, because that is when you cannot really get it wrong," said Dennis, who hinted that the cars ahead of him may not have filled up with as much fuel.

"I think we were quite strong in all three (qualifying) sessions but the last session carries with it the difference in race strategies, and I think it will be a question of seeing how the race unfolds.

"There is a lot of experience now amongst the whole F1 fraternity, which includes the media, and they will draw their own conclusions about people's respective grid positions and whether they are or are not as quick as they appear to be.

"I don't want to point to one particular car, but at the end of the day we are here to win - and win the race, not to sit on the front of the grid."

Dennis believes that the true potential of the MP4-21, which features aerodynamic upgrades and an improved engine this weekend, has not been seen so far this season.

In Bahrain, Raikkonen's race was affected by starting at the back of the grid while in Malaysia, the pace of the McLaren suffered because the aerodynamics had to be opened up to help cooling of the Mercedes-Benz engine.

"In the first race we were hampered by the problems in practice with Kimi, and I think that both of the drivers did a pretty good job in the race," Dennis said.

"We knew both in Bahrain and Malaysia that we were going to be much stronger from this race on, and we made life much more difficult for ourselves in Malaysia.

"It really hurt the car aerodynamically to increase the cooling parameters for the engine, and it doesn't mean to say there is anything wrong with the engine, it was just a phenomenally high ambient.

"We didn't have a complete handle on impact of slipstreaming and how we would go in temperatures. We were cautious, and being cautious on temperatures, we changed the aerodynamics, and we thought it would cost us two tenths of a second.

"But when we did a proper analysis in Paul Ricard and in the wind tunnel, it was probably half a second we hurt the car.

"That flattered the performance of the Renaults, and since that race we have not only got that back but also taken a step with aerodynamics and quite a significant step on the engine, so we have to see how things unfold in the race. I think we are quite strong.

"It is always nice to be on the front row, but the important thing is to win the race."