Raikkonen hits back at Schumacher

Kimi Raikkonen hit back at new championship leader Michael Schumacher today as he powered to top spot in first qualifying for the European Grand Prix at the Nurburgring in Germany.

The 23-year-old Finn responded to losing the lead in the drivers’ standings to his Ferrari rival at the last race in Canada two weeks ago by setting the pace on a muggy afternoon in Germany.

Schumacher had the disadvantage of running first on the track for the first time since the opening race in Australia last March and Raikkonen made him pay, although the later runners were the real losers as rain hit the track.

Raikkonen finished over 0.3 seconds quicker in his McLaren-Mercedes on the 3.198-mile track and will have the advantage of running last in tomorrow’s final qualifying session.

The Espoo-born driver will aim to avoid a repeat of his mistake in qualifying in Montreal which meant he was forced to start from the pit lane and although he recovered to finish sixth, still fell three points adrift in the battle for the world championship.

Colombia’s Juan Pablo Montoya was third fastest just fractions adrift of Schumacher, whose brother Ralf was fourth in the other Williams-BMW over half a second off the pace.

Brazilian Rubens Barrichello was fifth quickest in his Ferrari while David Coulthard was over 0.9secs slower than fellow McLaren driver Raikkonen while finishing sixth.

The 32-year-old Scot must improve tomorrow is he is to stand any chance of reviving his faltering title hopes by carving into his 29-point deficit to Schumacher in Sunday’s ninth grand prix of the 16-race campaign.

Britain’s Jenson Button snapped the front wing on his BAR-Honda after cutting the final chicane too fine and hitting one of the plastic bollards to finish in 11th spot, almost 2.5secs adrift of Raikkonen.

The 23-year-old was one of the last drivers to benefit before the gathering clouds broke with Toyota’s Cristiano da Matta immediately caught out as he skidded sideways on the suddenly slippery track.

Button’s team-mate Jacques Villeneuve came off the worst as, after battling to keep control of his car, he eventually ended up beached in the gravel when sliding off as the conditions grew worse.

Toyota’s Olivier Panis, surprisingly quickest in practice earlier, also suffered in the rain as he finished 16th fastest – over 28 seconds slower than Raikkonen.

Ralph Firman was a commendable 14th for Jordan despite being similarly effected by running late in the session while Justin Wilson also impressed finishing just one place further back for Minardi.

The rain certainly had a dramatic effect on the time sheets with Jaguar’s Mark Webber almost six seconds behind Raikkonen in 12th spot while 13th placed Nick Heidfeld was over 22secs adrift.