McLaren upbeat for Germany

Raikkonen scored his first podium finish of the season at Silverstone, a race which he started from pole. The Finn thinks new aerodynamic tweaks will mean the new MP4-19B chassis is even quicker this time around.

"The result at Silverstone and the pace of the MP4-19B during the weekend was very positive for the whole team," said Raikkonen. "I felt competitive all weekend and am looking forward to taking this form to Germany and the Mercedes-Benz home support. We are bringing some additional aerodynamic modifications to the 19B on line at the race, which we tested after Britain and the results of which were encouraging and have shown that there is more to come from the car."

Team-mate David Coulthard, who qualified third for the French Grand Prix but failed to shine at Silverstone, is also upbeat over his chances.

"After the British Grand Prix, I am looking forward to racing the MP4-19B again at Hockenheim," said Coulthard. "The car has moved us forward in terms of both chassis and engine performance, and hopefully with the Hockenheim specific set-up work we have tested at the Silverstone test last week I will be in a position to perform better in Germany."

Team CEO Martin Whitmarsh added: "The team has continued to push hard with our development programme. We have conducted two intensive tests at Silverstone and Jerez, with all four drivers in action, completing over 3,800 kilometres in total.

"The simultaneous programme included Hockenheim set-up and the proving of new components that we will race at the Mobil 1 German Grand Prix. This was in addition to developments that will be introduced in the longer term, which were tested at this time due to the testing ban that is now in force until the first week of September."