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Raikkonen not getting carried away

Kimi Raikkonen has played down talk that Ferrari can now consider itself contenders for victory in the remaining races of the season - despite his success in the Belgian Grand Prix

The Finn ended Ferrari's victory drought with a hard-earned triumph at Spa-Francorchamps, which has boosted the team's hopes of finishing third in the Constructors' Championship.

But despite the result showing Ferrari has made good progress with its car, the fact that the team has frozen development of the F60 to concentrate on its 2010 machine makes it unlikely that more success will follow easily.

"I'll give my best to gain as many points as possible in the remaining GPs," he said. "It won't be easy, because the other teams will show up with further developments, while we froze the F60, concentrating on the project for 2010.

"We have to try to give our best with what we have, trying to fight for a place on the podium. We're very happy for our fans, who finally had a reason to celebrate.

"There's no better way to arrive in Monza. I know that I'm repeating myself, but I want to say it again: it won't be easy, but we'll give our best to be on the podium again."

Although Raikkonen's victory was helped hugely by the advantage delivered by its KERS, the 2007 world champion does not feel that it devalues his success at all.

"Naturally the KERS helped us a lot at the start and when the safety car came in," he said. "That doesn't change the victory's value, but we enjoyed the first success with this car using the KERS.

"I knew that the start would be crucial. Barrichello had a very slow start, which didn't help me, but I managed to come out of La Source in third position and I was right behind Kubica at the Eau Rouge. Then I overtook him, but I took the first right-hand corner after the main straight too wide, holding second position.

"Then the safety car helped us. At the restart we knew that it would be crucial to keep the tyres and the brakes at the right temperature to attack Fisichella while exploiting the KERS. There was a moment when we were really close to colliding during the overtaking manoeuvre, but I could hold my line on the track.

"Once I had passed him and I was in the lead I knew that the main part had been done. We had more or less the same fuel loads and although he was very fast there weren't any possibilities for him to attack me. Maybe it would have been easier if we'd had different types of tyres, but we crossed the line first.

"It was great listening to the Finnish national anthem on the podium again! I came very close to a win many times last year, but for some reason or another I couldn't make it."

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