Raikkonen says next two races crucial

The Italian squad have lost ground to rivals McLaren in the last three Grands Prix, and Raikkonen is already 26 points behind championship leader Lewis Hamilton.

The Finn, who has not been on the podium since the third round of the season in Bahrain, believes it's time to score good results if he wants to have a change of fighting for the title.

Ferrari plan to introduce new components that are being tested this week at Silverstone, and Raikkonen is hoping they will help the team get closer to McLaren following their disappointing performance in North America.

"Of course, we expected much more than nine points from these two races, although it could have been much worse, especially in Canada," said Raikkonen. "I am disappointed. We have lost ground in the championship on our main rivals but it's not over yet.

"This is a sport where things can turn around very quickly. For sure nobody in the team wants to give in. There's lots of pressure weighing on us, but the same is true of our main rivals.

"We have a new aerodynamic package and some other things. Hopefully we can close the gap on McLaren. One thing is for sure: We really need better results at the upcoming two GPs than we got in North America. There is a lot that depends on the tests this week."

Raikkonen admitted his team have been paying the price for not being able to shine in qualifying, but he reckons Ferrari are also losing out at the starts.

"We lost points especially because of our performance in the qualifying and then at the starts," he said. "Our performance was less than we had expected. McLaren have taken a step forward. It seems that they are able to heat up their tyres, which gives them more grip and performance on the first lap.

"During the last two races I had to start on the dirty side of the track. That did not help. On top of that I started with hard tyres at Indy, while all the others started on the soft ones. Having said that, we need to improve in this part of the race, because when you lose positions at the start, it makes life very difficult.

"For example at Indianapolis I managed to pass Heidfeld and Kovalainen and I was able to push. The car was well balanced and I was able to get some really good laptimes. Then I closed up on Felipe, and when you're behind your teammate during the closing stages of a Grand Prix, you don't want to risk too much."