Mystery lack of pace hits McLaren

"Our lack of performance in the light of the results we achieved in Monaco and Magny-Cours, which are circuits with similar characteristics, is something which we at this stage do not fully understand," said Dennis. "No specific part of the package is responsible."

Coulthard added: "It was extremely difficult to make the tyres work and find the right balance."

Raikkonen too pointed to problems finding a balance, but he also ran into traffic on his best lap and made a mistake on another run. He fears that his sixth-row starting place will ruin any chance of a good result. "The race is not going to be easy," said the Finn, "as it's nearly impossible to overtake here, but we will do our best."

Hard work lies ahead for team and engineers overnight and Dennis hopes that will help. "I'm sure our performance will improve," he said, "but it's going to need a very good strategy to get a podium finish."