Raikkonen hoping for hot German weekend

The F2008 is widely believed to be much gentler on its tyres than main championship rival McLaren's MP4-23 - meaning it should not only be more consistent over race distances but also will not suffer too much tyre degradation when temperatures are high.

However, on the flipside, it means the more aggressive MP4-23 is better able to get heat into its tyres over one lap - and can be stronger when the temperatures are cooler.

That is why Raikkonen wants Hockenheim to be as warm as possible - even though forecasts are for showers throughout the weekend.

"I hope it will be hot, as it usually is at Hockenheim," said Raikkonen in his Ferrari preview to the event. "Our car goes really well at high temperatures and also the tyre-wear is not too high. So I really hope it will be hot.

"It's hard to overtake, but the qualifying doesn't determine the result as (much as) on other tracks: although starting from the first row will make life much easier."

Raikkonen remains positive about his and Ferrari's championship challenge, despite the disappointments of Monaco, Canada and Britain.

"I've always said that the championship will be very uncertain," he explained. "I had the possibility to win the last three races, but for one reason or the other things didn't go the right way: but that's racing and I'm sure I'll win again soon.

"Every point will be important, just like last year. Three drivers tied on the top spot and a fourth, who is two points behind: that's a very interesting situation."

He added: "We've done some testing here last week and it went pretty well. We tried some new components and judging by the lap times there is still a great balance, but I think that Ferrari will be very competitive and fight for the win. I had some really good impressions of the F2008: I'm convinced that we'll be at the max."