Raikkonen 'very confident' for France

The Ferrari driver has struggled to fight at the top in the last few races, and he has not finished on the podium since the fourth round of the season in Bahrain.

The results mean Raikkonen is 26 points behind championship leader Lewis Hamilton with 10 races remaining.

But last week's test at Silverstone left the Finn upbeat about Ferrari's chances for the Magny-Cours race.

"Last week was a perfect week," said the Finn. "We had a very good test in Silverstone: the car was much better than at the races in North America. So I'm really very confident of the race in Magny-Cours.

"We have new components, above all in the section of aerodynamics; and we have taken a step forward as far as the performance is concerned: if it is enough, we'll only know in France, when we go on the track under the same conditions as our competitors.

"This is the question mark you always carry with you after the tests. What we know for sure is that we think that we are competitive."

Raikkonen also admitted that he is feeling more comfortable behind the wheel of the F2007, having found a new set-up that suits him better.

"This year it is fundamental to start from the front row, because it is very difficult to drive, when you're stuck behind other cars: unfortunately I've experienced that quite often at these races," he added.

"I'm more and more confident with the F2007: we found a good set-up, what you could already see in the race at Indianapolis. Now we have to transfer what we've seen yesterday afternoon and at Silverstone to the next two Grands Prix."