F1: Kimi Raikkonen says there is 'light at the end of the tunnel'

Kimi Raikkonen reckons his performance in the Hungarian Grand Prix shows there is "light at the end of the tunnel" following his difficult start to his Formula 1 season

Raikkonen bounced back from a qualifying blunder on Saturday to rise from 16th on the grid to sixth at the Hungaroring, the Finn's best result since rejoining Ferrari.

The 2007 world champion has struggled to get comfortable driving the F14 T, but said his performance in Sunday's race at least suggests things are moving in the right direction.

"It was more fun because the car has been feeling a bit better, which makes life easier and lets you enjoy it more," Raikkonen said.

"You can push and fight more rather than just defending and falling backwards, which obviously helps.

"It was difficult, but fun, and shows we're doing something right and that there is some light at the end of the tunnel.

"But one result doesn't change the big picture."

Raikkonen suggested the fact he failed to overtake the fifth placed Williams of Felipe Massa in the closing stages of the race shows how much work Ferrari still needs to do to improve.

"The car worked pretty well so it's just we need a bit more straight-line speed, especially against the Mercedes-powered cars, to be able to pass them at this kind of track," Raikkonen added.

"We know we still have issues and things to improve - mechanical grip, downforce, power.

"Here and Monaco seemed to be better for us but there is still a long way for us to go before we can say we're happy and where we should be.

"The result was a bit better for me and the team got more points, but the fact is there hasn't been a massive change.

"We know where we are and what we have to do, and there's a lot of things to do to get where we want to be."