Raikkonen calm despite fourth place

The championship leader will start from fourth position, behind teammate Felipe Massa and the two McLaren drivers, after failing to match the pace of the leading trio.

Raikkonen, however, remained calm about his starting place and is still hopeful he will be able to fight for victory.

He also admitted a driving error during his second run in Q3 had cost him a better result.

"Obviously, I would have preferred to have been further up the grid, but this position is definitely not the end of the world," said Raikkonen. "What matters is the race when the points are given out. We are up against very strong opposition, which is no surprise to us.

"Of course, there's a question mark over fuel loads and we won't get an answer to that until the first pitstops tomorrow afternoon.

"I am a bit disappointed but I made mistakes on my second lap in Q3 and I have to accept that: I didn't go into the final corner before the pit straight quite right and lost a lot of speed.

"We can count on a car that is good over a distance and we will try and make the most of it, trying to get as many points as possible. Winning is never easy, but I'll give it a go."