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Raikkonen eager to end win drought

Kimi Raikkonen is eager to return to winning ways in Formula 1, over a year after scoring his last grand prix victory

The Ferrari driver dominated last year's Spanish Grand Prix at Barcelona, but has since then endured a drought, not having stepped on the top of the podium in 18 races.

"It's a bit more than a year ago that I won my last Formula 1 race," said Raikkonen. "At Barcelona in 2008 I had my best weekend with Ferrari: pole position, victory and fastest race lap.

"Since then I came very close several times - I'm thinking of Magny-Cours, Montreal and Spa - but for one reason or the other I could never make it. Having said that, a driver never loses the lust for winning and I want to have that feeling again as soon as possible."

The Maranello squad has had a torrid start to the 2009 season, having scored just three points in four races.

Ferrari, however, is introducing major upgrades for this weekend's race in Spain, hoping to take a significant step forward.

Test driver Marc Gene tested the evolution of the F60 car at Vairano last weekend, and the team was left encouraged by the results.

The car included a double-decker diffuser and a lighter chassis among other changes.

"I really liked hearing from the team that the new aerodynamic package's first signs are positive," Raikkonen added. "It will be really interesting taking the car out during Friday's free practice sessions.

"We drove on this track back in March this year, but it's always really difficult to understand from the tests, who's really strong in the field. Furthermore many cars have changed quite a lot since then.

"With the new aerodynamic package we'll have more downforce compared to the first four races, but also almost all of the others will show up with some updates. We'll see who has done better work."

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