McLaren-Mercedes ace Kimi Räikkönen and Mercedes-Benz motorsport boss Norbert Haug are confident that the Woking-based team will revitalise its championship bid in Germany this weekend.

McLaren-Mercedes ace Kimi Räikkönen and Mercedes-Benz motorsport boss Norbert Haug are confident that the Woking-based team will revitalise its championship bid in Germany this weekend.


Despite incurring two 10-position grid penalties for replacing failed engines at Magny Cours and Silverstone,

Räikkönen finished on the podium in both the French and British Grands Prix. The McLaren MP4-20 is now widely regarded as the fastest car in the current F1 lineup and the young Finn is determined to reduce his 26-point deficit to Spaniard Fernando Alonso in the title race... His first objective will be a securing victory at Hockenheim on Sunday.


"The battle for the championship is still on and I am determined to get a good result and work on closing the gap at the German Grand Prix," Räikkönen said. "The MP4-20 has good speed, and we need to make the most of it this weekend."


In the run up to Mercedes' home race, the Stuttgart-based manufacturer's motorsport boss, Norbert Haug, is confident that the Finn's 'Benz engine will be more reliable this weekend.


"We are all working hard for the cars' speed and reliability to provide Kimi and Juan Pablo with conditions for best possible results," Haug said. "Understandably, the most frequently asked question for us is, if Kimi will be able to reduce the gap behind Fernando Alonso or to pass him. The answer is - we don't know, but we will fight for it as hard as we can."


"We did not enter the season as a title contender," the German told , "but we were made favourites after a handful of races. The truth is that our direction is right."


Meanwhile, Räikkönen and team-mate Juan-Pablo Montoya will both snub next month's driver meeting with FIA president Max Mosley. At least eleven super licence holders are set to travel with Grand Prix Driver Association director David Coulthard to Cannes on the day after the Hungarian Grand Prix, to air their views on F1 drivers' safety.


But according to , the Finn and Colombian will miss the meeting and jet off to their holidays instead. "I support the objective and concept," Montoya, 29, told the magazine, "but I cannot go - I have already planned a holiday in Colombia."


Räikkönen's reponse? "I am not interested," the Finn said.

Original article from Car