Raikkonen unscathed after practice

Kimi Raikkonen finally completed four trouble-free practice sessions to stamp his mark on this weekend’s German Grand Prix.

After failures with the Mercedes engine on Raikkonen’s McLaren in practice at the recent French and British races, the German giants are determined to come good on home soil at Hockenheim.

Following his performance in the two hour-long runs yesterday when the Finn was easily the fastest of the race drivers, Raikkonen maintained his dominance in this morning’s 45-minute sessions as he again came out on top.

In the final outing, and just after championship leader Fernando Alonso had posted his quickest practice time to head the standings, Raikkonen brilliantly responded with the fastest lap over the two days.

The 25-year-old, who trails Alonso by 26 points in the drivers’ standings, clocked a time of one minute 14.128 seconds for the 4.574-kilometre circuit and he now looks good to claim pole position in qualifying later today.

There is a strong possibility it will be an all-McLaren front row as Juan Pablo Montoya, fresh from his success at Silverstone a fortnight ago, set his personal practice best of 1:14.449, albeit just over three-tenths behind Raikkonen.

McLaren boss Ron Dennis yesterday demanded one-two race finishes this season if his team are to become world champions, and with his drivers and cars in this sort of form he may well get his wish.

Alonso would appear to be on nothing more than a damage-limitation exercise as he was 0.630 seconds down, with Renault team-mate Giancarlo Fisichella a further two-tenths back in fourth.

Jenson Button, after his first points finishes of the season for BAR at Magny-Cours and Silverstone, was the best of the rest, with the Williams of Mark Webber and Ferrari of seven-times world champion Michael Schumacher sixth and seventh, the latter a second down.

Red Bull Racing’s David Coulthard finished 11th, while the second Ferrari of Rubens Barrichello endured a miserable run and was down in 16th, almost two seconds adrift.

The Brazilian even suffered the ignominy of taking a tour across the gravel and grass at one point in the third session after running wide at turn 11.

The gravel also caught out Tiago Monteiro, who celebrates his 29th birthday tomorrow, as the Portuguese driver beached his Jordan in the final run, which resulted in him propping up the timesheets.