Raikkonen Blames Qualifying for Missing Podium

Finn Kimi Raikkonen said a better qualifying performance would have allowed him to fight to a podium place at Sunday's Hungarian Grand Prix.

Raikkonen and McLaren teammate David Coulthard struggled during Saturday's qualifying session, finishing down in a season-worst 10th and 11th places respectively. The Woking-based team raised their pace in today's race, and Raikkonen climbed up to fourth position while Coulthard finished right behind in fifth.

But a higher grid position on a track where overtaking is virtually impossible would have helped them fight for the top three, according to Raikkonen.

"Considering our starting positions and the lack of overtaking opportunities presented by the circuit lay out, I'm pleased that we managed to get some points today," said Raikkonen. "I made a good start and gained a couple of positions on the first lap. Montoya and myself then had a clean battle for seventh.

"On lap 22 we were side-by-side coming into turn two and I managed to get the inside for turn three where he ran wide. If we had qualified higher up the grid, we could have finished on the podium today as we were quick and had the right strategy, but once I had a clear track ahead of me and could start pushing it was too late."

Raikkonen, who lost a lot of time behind slower drivers, finished some 16 seconds behind third-placed Ralf Schumacher in the Williams.