McLaren buoyed by Magny-Cours speed

Raikkonen described his car as "fantastic" and team-mate David Coulthard added: "I must admit, I didn't expect us to be fighting for the lead. If Michael hadn't had his drive through penalty it wouldn't have looked so close, but the car was a lot more competitive all weekend than it has been.

"I had oversteer in qualifying but today I was putting front wing in and dropping tyre pressures at the pit stops, which I certainly didn't expect to be doing. We're going to places for the first time on these tyres and you never quite know what to expect. But I enjoyed that so much I didn't want it to end. It's what racing should be like. I was behind Ralf Schumacher initially but as soon as Ralf pulled in I went three-quarters of a second quicker."

Coulthard and Raikkonen set the fastest and third quickest laps of the race respectively as McLaren raced with a development step Mercedes engine in France. With the revised Hockenheim now a much higher downforce venue and Budapest to follow, expect two more strong outings for Ron Dennis's team.

McLaren is currently 19 points behind Williams in the constructors championship, but BMW Motorsport director Gerhard Berger said: "We have to continue to work hard because McLaren has made a big step forward. The fight for second place in the constructors championship is going to be exciting."