Set-Up Changes Pay Off for Raikkonen

After being off the pace of teammate Juan Pablo Montoya on Friday, the Finn edged out Renault's Giancarlo Fisichella and Fernando Alonso in the incident-filled qualifying session.

And afterwards he revealed that the modifications made after practice had lifted his confidence prior to qualifying.

"Yesterday was not perfect but really the day yesterday was really only to try to find the right tyre," said Raikkonen. "I think we got a good choice on that and over night we changed the car and straight away from the morning it was good.

"We did a good lap time before the qualifying so we were quite confident but on a new circuit you never know how it is going to be in qualifying. It was quite tough but I am very happy with the car."

The troubles encountered by a host of drivers in qualifying, including Michael Schumacher, Jenson Button and Jacques Villeneuve, who all ran off the track, is pointing towards a spectacular race on Sunday - and Raikkonen admits that things are unlikely to be straightforward.

"Yeah, it is not going to be easy," he said. "Also because we had some holiday and when you are not driving for a while it is harder but I don't mind and let's see how it goes and it shouldn't be any problem."