Raikkonen says third better than second

The Finn will start behind Ferrari teammate Felipe Massa and Toyota's Jarno Trulli, and crucially ahead of Massa's championship rival Lewis Hamilton, only fourth today in the McLaren.

Although Raikkonen lost a place on the front row right at the end of qualifying, he said third is a better place to start from.

"I think I did more or less what I was supposed to do," said Raikkonen. "I am in a good starting place and I prefer to be third than second, it is a pretty good place to start.

"Hopefully we will get a good start and then we have a car to pull away like last year. That would be perfect and that is what we aim for. After that it is not up to us.

"Our only chance is to try and be first and second and hope for a bit of luck outside. It is not up to us from that point. We will see what happens."

The outgoing world champion admitted he was feeling confident the car will be strong again in the race tomorrow.

"I think the car is definitely good. I have not had the easiest weekends but we are where we should be. I am confident the car will be strong in the race.

"I have a bit of understeer here but not so bad for the race as it will be hard for the tyres. We will see what we can do tomorrow but it's not a bad position for us."