Raikkonen: I could have gone faster

It was Raikkonen's second win of the season and the third in a row for Ferrari, who scored their second consecutive one-two finish.

The result moved Raikkonen nine points clear in the standings, ahead of McLaren's Lewis Hamilton, who had to settle for third place today.

The Finn said he could not have asked for more, especially after seeing his friend and McLaren driver Heikki Kovalainen walk away from a massive crash.

"We didn't get the perfect start but it was good enough to stay in front," said Raikkonen. "For sure we could have run a bit faster but no point to push when you don't need to. It was closer than we expected.

"It was a good day and I am happy that Heikki seems to be okay after his accident so I cannot ask for anything more. The guys did a perfect work. In the second pitstop I had a bit of traffic and had to wait, but it was okay."

The Ferrari driver, whose team were catapulted into the lead of the championship by today's result, said starting from pole at a circuit where overtaking is so hard was vital.

"This circuit is very difficult to overtake and the start is the best place and if you have a lot of things with the safety car you might be lucky or unlucky, but the best place to try and win is from the front.

"We had the speed all weekend," the world champion added.

Formula One now moves to Turkey, where Ferrari have won the last two races, and Raikkonen is confident the team can be strong again.

"I think our car should be quite strong in Turkey and it is a great circuit. I am looking forward to going there and do the best we can. We had a great weekend here and we try and repeat it in Turkey, whatever it brings we need points."