Raikkonen wants to revive hopes in Europe

The Ferrari driver has not finished on the podium in the last four races and is 26 points behind championship leader Lewis Hamilton with 10 races remaining.

But Raikkonen insisted on Thursday that last week's test at Silverstone has made him more confident ahead of the Magny-Cours race this weekend, when the Finn is hoping to return to winning ways to bring his title hopes back to life.

"In Silverstone, we had a useful test where the car felt good straight away, but testing is testing and now we are here for a race and of course, this is not Silverstone, but all the same, I have a positive feeling," Raikkonen told a news conference ahead of the French Grand Prix.

"For sure, I did not expect to be in this position but it is up to us to try and improve and to start winning races again. I hope that now we are back in Europe, we see a change for the better.

"So, let's see tomorrow how things go once we have been out on track, but I hope we will be in a position to challenge our closest rivals. We are improving, but it is just taking a bit longer than I had expected."

Raikkonen is also optimistic he will be able to have better starts from now on, after Ferrari modified his car's clutch following the United States Grand Prix.

"I have just suffered from a lack of grip off the line," he added. "And also at the last race, I was on the harder tyre at the start. But we have made improvements to our clutch which I think will help."