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Robert Kubica fears his Renault team could face a difficult German Grand Prix due to the improving form of rival teams.

With the French squad not having its own F-duct system, and with most of its rivals already using a blown rear diffuser, Kubica fears the opposition could be very strong at Hockenheim.

"As usual, I will try to do my best and to extract the maximum from the car," said Kubica in a team preview.

"Most of the teams we are racing now have both the F-duct and the blown floor, so I think it could be quite a tough weekend, and we need to make sure that our pace is more competitive than at the last race.

"But if it's what we call a tough weekend for us is like in Silverstone, when we still could have finished P4 or P5, then I'll take it straight away."

The Pole, who retired from the previous race at Silverstone, said Renault will have to work hard to make sure it finds the right compromise between speed and downforce due to the lack of an F-duct.

"All the cars we are racing already have an F-duct system, and this makes our life harder because we may have to reduce downforce to be competitive on top speed, which could cost us in the corners," he added. "We will have to evaluate the best compromise for us on Friday."

Team-mate Vitaly Petrov is aiming to match Kubica's pace during the weekend, the Russian admitting his main focus will be having a strong qualifying.

"As always the first target is to be close to Robert's pace," he said. "Then I need to qualify in the top ten and finish the race.

"I think that qualifying is my number one priority for the weekend because we know how it important it is for the outcome of the race."AUTOSPORT-F1