Raikkonen hopes to turn things around soon

The Ferrari driver has not won since the Spanish Grand Prix in April and has dropped to third place in the standings, seven points behind Lewis Hamilton and three behind Felipe Massa.

His chances of improving the situation in Hungary look dim already, the Finn having qualified down in sixth position after a driving error.

Raikkonen admitted the last few races have been hard for him but he is still hopeful he will turn things around.

"I don't know," said Raikkonen when asked about the reason for his problems. "For sure it hasn't been easy for us, but today the car wasn't really bad. I went off and I couldn't stay on the circuit - so that doesn't help. I lost time and that is really it.

"That is life, and we try to do better next time. For sure one day we will get it back, and hopefully it is not too late."

Raikkonen also conceded qualifying has not been easy for him lately, and he is aware that making progress in Hungary will be very difficult.

"Yeah, I know that is the usual problem. Usually the car works better for me in the race, and the main problem is to get the one lap out. Even on used tyres the car feels very nice, so in the race the car should be fine.

"The problem here is to get past, and it isn't easy to overtake - if the guy in front doesn't make any mistakes there is no way to get around him. That is the only issue but we will see what we can do."

The Finn said he was unable to put together a good flying lap all day, and insisted his poor result was down to his error.

"I would say it was my fault really," he said. "I went off on the last lap, and I don't know how much I lost but it certainly didn't help. My first lap also was not very nice.

"The car wasn't too bad today but I couldn't get any real laps - it didn't really come together. For sure there is much more in the car, but it didn't happen today."