Raikkonen credits 'my best car'

Kimi Raikkonen has put his faith in the best car of his career as he looks to take his first Monaco Grand Prix victory.

The Finn has rocketed into title contention over the last two races and blitzed the field today in first qualifying at Monaco.

He was almost half a second faster than world championship leader Fernando Alonso’s previously dominant Renault and the McLaren driver is odds on favourite to clinch pole position tomorrow.

Raikkonen would need to lose half a second to Alonso and, with overtaking nearly impossible on the tight Principality streets, he knows how important top spot will be.

He said: “I think it is important to be on pole or on the front row at any race but here especially so because it is pretty much impossible to overtake.

“If you can get pole you can get the lead and then you are able to win the race.

“We have a margin over the others, but it is never sure so we will try hard to take pole position.

“This is the best car I have driven around here so I was quite confident we would have a good weekend and hopefully we do not give up our advantage.

“But I am not expecting an easy race, we just have to do the best we can and try to win the race.”

Alonso is becoming used to trailing Raikkonen, who was the fastest man on track in San Marino and Spain but he was surprised at the extent of Raikkonen’s advantage.

However, the Spaniard still approaches tomorrow’s race with confidence with only one car likely to be ahead of him on the grid.

Even if Raikkonen wins all the remaining races, Alonso could theoretically still win the title and he was happy to accept second best behind his championship rival.

Alonso, who leads the championship by 18 points from Toyota’s Jarno Trulli with Raikkonen another 11 behind, said: “The gap [to Raikkonen] is too much from our point of view. It’s a surprise but at the same time we have a good margin also to third position.

“The good thing is we are on the front row at the moment and this is very important here in Monaco.

“I am extremely happy with second place after that session. We will have to see if there are areas to improve for tomorrow but I am feeling quite confident in the car’s performance and consistency.”

Mark Webber continued to show fine form over one lap to take third for Williams while Giancarlo Fisichella was fourth in the other Renault before tomorrow’s session, after which the times are aggregated.

Juan Pablo Montoya finished fifth in the second McLaren but he will have to start from the back after stewards decided he caused an “avoidable accident” in practice which took out three cars. Williams’ Nick Heidfeld was sixth.

World champion Michael Schumacher was the fourth man out on track, an early starting position which came courtesy of his Spanish retirement and brought an unwelcome handicap of a dusty track.

The Ferrari driver was not expected to overcome that hindrance but just how slow Schumacher lapped was a surprise and he was even behind old foe Jacques Villeneuve’s Sauber.

Schumacher ended up 11th, well over two seconds off the pole position pace with Rubens Barrichello also struggling badly, although the Brazilian did at least beat his team-mate on his way to 10th.

David Coulthard needed his car hastily repaired following a practice shunt this morning when Villeneuve punted him into the barriers.

But Red Bull got the car ready in time and the Scotsman kept his points chances alive with eighth.