Raikkonen expects tough race despite pole

The Ferrari driver beat McLaren's Fernando Alonso by nearly three tenths of a second to return to the top stop of the grid for the first time since the season-opening Australian Grand Prix.

But despite his pole, Raikkonen is under no illusions that the race will be easy.

"Finally," said Raikkonen, looking for his third consecutive victory after having won in France and Britain. "

In qualifying at the last race I made a mistake in the final part of my lap, but today everything went well and I've managed to get back on pole. In Q1 and Q2, I had some problems with grip, but once the car was carrying the fuel load for the first part of the race it was very good again.

"The wait after Hamilton's accident made the third session more complicated but the biggest problem was that it was all going to be down to one flying lap. Now I am in the best possible position on the grid, but I am well aware that we can expect a very tough race.

"All weekend the car has been very good but our rivals are still very strong."

Teammate Felipe Massa finished in third position, but the Brazilian is still confident of a stronger race.

"In Q1 and Q2 I was very happy with the handling of the car," said Massa. "The break because of Hamilton's accident certainly did not help matters and maybe I lost a bit of the right feeling.

"On my final lap I was a bit slower in the first and third sectors, just by a few hundredths but it was enough to make the difference. But I am still confident because I know I have a really good car in race trim."