Raikkonen expected stronger result

Raikkonen, last year's winner from pole position in Turkey but still without a victory this season, starts seventh after finishing nearly a second off the pole position time.

"The times are very close today so even a small improvement could have made a big difference in where we qualified," said Raikkonen. "I think we had expected to be slightly higher up, but I will move one place on the grid to seventh, and as we have seen many times before anything is possible.

"The car is handling quite well, and you never know what strategy the others are using, so all we can do now is to wait for the race tomorrow."

Raikkonen's Spanish teammate Pedro de la Rosa, second in Hungary two weeks ago, failed to make the final cut and will start a disappointing 11th.

"Not qualifying inside the top ten obviously allows us to be a bit more flexible with the strategy, so it's not all bad," de la Rosa said. "I will also move up one position on the grid due to Ralf's engine change.

"On my flying laps in the second session I hit traffic which affected my times. I'm sure that we have made the right decision with regards to our Michelin tyres. The car was working well, and I look forward to the race."