The Turkish Grand Prix in May – where Lewis Hamilton was forced to run an uncompetitive three-stop strategy to preserve his tyres through the circuits fast corners – highlighted McLaren's vulnerability in the way the MP4-23 uses its rubber.
While Hockenheim does not have the high-speed corners of Istanbul Park, Raikkonen still expects to gain an advantage in hot weather as looking after the rear tyres will help with traction out of the circuits slow corners.
“I hope it will be hot, as it usually is at Hockenheim,” said the world champion.
“Our car goes really well at high temperatures and also the tyre wear is not too high.
“So I really hope it will be hot.”
A hot qualifying session will also help Ferrari as they have struggled to get their tyres up to a working temperature over one lap.
In Germany Bridgestone will bring the two hardest tyres in its range, potentially compounding the problem for Raikkonen, but the Finn doesnt see qualifying as the be-all-and-end-all at Hockenheim.
“Its hard to overtake, but qualifying doesnt determine the result as on other tracks,” he said.
“Although starting form the first row will make life much easier.”
After last weeks test at Hockenheim, Raikkonen is confident about his chances of a win even though he believes the battle between Ferrari and McLaren is still hanging in the balance.
“Weve done some testing here last week and it went pretty well,” he said.
“We tried some new components and judging by the lap times there is still a great balance, but I think that Ferrari will be very competitive and fight for the win.
“I had some really good impressions of the F2008, Im convinced that well be at the max.”
And while he has a poor record at Hockenheim, finishing just one race in six during his career, Raikkonen pointed out that he has always been quick at both Germany's F1 venues.
“The races in Germany never went very well for me," he said.
“Neither Hockenheim nor Nurburgring ever brought me luck although I really like them and Ive always been competitive on both of them.
“My strong point in Germany is getting the pole position.
“Last year I started ahead of everybody else at the Nurburgring and also the time before at Hockenheim; for one reason or another victory always aliped through my fingers.”
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