One of season's best sessions, says Räikkönen

After qualifying sixth, Kimi Räikkönen was pleased with what he believes was one of his most positive qualifying sessions of the 2009 season in Valencia. The 2007 World Champion retired from the European Grand Prix with engine failure last year but hopes to register a strong result in this year's race.

With new team-mate Luca Badoer at the back as he replaces the recovering Felipe Massa for the first time, Räikkönen will attempt to make best use of his KERS system to blast past the likes of Sebastian Vettel and both Brawn cars through the long Turn 1.

"Honestly, this was one of the best qualifying sessions of the season, even if we are not as quick as those on the front row," Kimi said on Saturday afternoon. "Our final result will depend, basically, on how the start goes; it will be very important to make up a few places because if we end up behind a slower car the race is compromised.

"I think we are reasonably competitive in race trim, as could be seen in Q3, while we are struggling a bit on light tanks. So far it's been a good weekend and I am happy with the performance of the F60."

Source: GP Update