Newey 'relieved' over pole

Raikkonen just beat Ferrari's Rubens Barrichello to the fastest time in Saturday's qualifying session in the new MP4-19B, which was introduced in last weekend's French Grand Prix.

"It's a bit of a relief, I must say, to be back towards the front of the grid," said Newey. "Obviously we all desperately want to win some races but at least we're in the right area of the grid now. We can but hope for the race.

"It's difficult to know how people's tyre degradation will be. Ferrari's will be very strong, they always are. We'll just do our best. We don't know what everyone else has got, but we've got a reasonably honest fuel load."

Team principal Ron Dennis echoed his sentiments: "It goes without saying that we are delighted with Kimi's pole position and the fact that both drivers have been consistently quick in all practice sessions.

"Today's result is such a nice reward for everybody in the team who has worked so hard to re-establish our competitiveness in the critical areas of chassis and engine. As you would expect we will now focus on the race tomorrow."