Kimi Raikkonen has played down suggestions his pace in Friday practice at the Canadian Grand Prix is proof of a sudden return to form.
After qualifying on pole for the first time in nine years at the Monaco Grand Prix two weeks ago, Raikkonen kicked off his Montreal weekend with the fastest time in Friday practice. He was 0.215s quicker than Lewis Hamilton in the second session and 0.265s faster than teammate Sebastian Vettel on a track where the margins between cars are usually wafer thin.
But Raikkonen was quick to remind journalists in Canada that Friday practice times count for nothing over the course of the weekend.
"I'm happy but it's only Friday," he said. "I don't try to make a big story out of it. Things went smoothly, it was a very normal Friday in which I had very good feeling with the car.
"We still have work to do, we'll try to improve and fight for pole. Let's see."
Asked if his performance in Friday practice was further proof of a resurgence following his Monaco pole, he added: "This has nothing to do with Monaco, now we are in Montreal and it's a new weekend!
"We had quite a decent day, not so good in the morning but the car behaved quite a bit better in the second session and it felt pretty good, although there was a lot of traffic. But there are still things to improve so it was very much a normal Friday."