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Raikkonen Unconcerned by Tyres Issue

McLaren driver Kimi Raikkonen says he is not worried about tyre problems ahead of tomorrow's United States Grand Prix

Tyre concerns hit the Indianapolis race after Michelin said they were baffled by a failure that put Toyota's Ralf Schumacher out of Sunday's race.

While Michelin's teams qualified on the same type of tyres that they had used in practice, the French manufacturer is concerned about their safety after two crashes on Friday caused by sudden failure.

Unable so far to get to the bottom of the problem, they have asked the governing FIA for permission to bring in new tyres. The situation after qualifying remained unclear.

Raikkonen, however, said he was not worried about the problems.

"I think it is the same for every team," said Raikkonen. "It didn't make our preparation any easier and I haven't been 100 percent happy with the car but last practice and qualifying seems to be okay so I am much more happier than yesterday, so I don't worry about the tyres in the race.

"I think they will be okay and we will go as quickly as we can."

Raikkonen will start tomorrow's race from second place, behind pole setter Jarno Trullibut the Finn driver was looking set to score pole until he lost time in the final section of the track.

"I don't know really why," said Raikkonen. "I think it was a pretty good lap similar time to this morning I was happy with it and wait and see what the others are doing with the pit-stops but we are in a pretty strong position right now."

Raikkonen's teammate Juan Pablo Montoya finished down in 11th place.

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