MOTOR SPORT/European Grand Prix: Kimi Raikkonen fears McLaren's dream of victory in their 600th Formula One start could be scuppered by handling problems at the Nurburgring.
The Finn was off the pace in practice for the European Grand Prix yesterday, finishing the two sessions eighth and 13th respectively, and he complained of car problems.
Despite pre-season optimism, McLaren have not challenged for a win in four races this year going into engine partner Mercedes' home grand prix.
With Raikkonen 18 points adrift of world champion Fernando Alonso he badly needs a win to reignite his title challenge but the 26-year-old sounded a downbeat note yesterday.
He said: "The engine feels okay. It is the handling that is a difficult. We have tried to fix it but it is not the first time we have had the problem.
"At the first race we had a similar situation. There are many different things going on - it's hard to find a cure. We try every race.
"We will see what we can do. We don't really know what the problem was. The gap is more than we expected. I am not happy with the car at the moment. It is not easy," he added.
That should sound like music to the ears of Renault ace Alonso, who was the fastest race driver in second practice yesterday.
But the Spaniard suspects McLaren, who have an improved Mercedes engine this weekend, may be playing down their chances, hoping to catch Renault and Ferrari by surprise.
The European Grand Prix is an important race for Mercedes, who have introduced a better engine this weekend, and Alonso doubts Raikkonen and Juan Pablo Montoya are as slow as today's times suggest.
He fears McLaren, who were two seconds off the pace this afternoon, were sandbagging and will only reveal their true speed in qualifying tomorrow.
Alonso said: "It depends on the fuel they have. It could be very slow, not a very good weekend for them or it could be a very good weekend. If they have 20 kilogrammes more fuel than us today, maybe tomorrow they are better.
"They are not very happy with the car they said, but maybe that is part of their strategy, maybe it is not the truth.
Williams' tester Alex Wurz set the fastest lap of the day with a time of one minute 32.079 seconds in first practice.
Test drivers, with no worries over engine reliability, traditionally come out on top on Friday and Wurz ensured that remained the case, with Honda's Anthony Davidson and BMW-Sauber's Robert Kubica second and third fastest respectively.
Michael Schumacher set the quickest lap for a race driver to suggest Ferrari's good form at Imola can be maintained.
Schumacher, who won two weeks ago to move into second in the championship, believes Ferrari can put Renault in the shade again. He said: "We are confident and from what we have seen we are also competitive here. If we can put all the pieces of the jigsaw together then we can fight for the win."
Alonso was second fastest of the racers across the two sessions with Honda's Jenson Button third. Scotsman David Coulthard struggled yesterday, failing to set a time in the first session before going 19th in the second.
Meanwhile, Button leapt to Silverstone's defence after some of his fellow drivers suggested the track had become dangerously fast this year largely because of aerodynamic rule changes and the much softer tyre compounds currently used.
"Silverstone is not such an issue because you have high-speed run-off areas. But it's when you get to other circuits you have to worry," said Button.
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