Raikkonen: Montreal result 'not a disaster'

Raikkonen started the race from the pits after spinning off in qualifying on Saturday, and his race was progressing to plan until he suffered a puncture and was forced to pit once again.

"Today's result is not a disaster at all and the gap to Michael is only three points with plenty more races to go," said Raikkonen. "I started the race from the pitlane but after 10-15 laps, the team told me to save my brakes so I was not able to push and if you don't push, you don't gain places.

"I was able to make some progress through the field. I lost one position to Barrichello when I had a puncture on my right rear tyre and had to go into the pits a bit earlier than scheduled. The whole team and myself look forward to fighting back at the next race."

His team-mate David Coulthard was less pleased about his race, which ended when his car lost gears. "Obviously a non-finish is never good, but that is the way it went today," he said.

Team principal Ron Dennis admitted the weekend had not gone to plan for his squad.

"A hard day at the office," he said. "Kimi's progress was slower than possible as a result of higher brake wear than we anticipated. Kimi's puncture cost him fifth place, but nevertheless his efforts were rewarded with three valuable points. The pace of the car was enough to win the race, and we will therefore maintain our low risk strategy for the introduction of the MP4-18."