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Kimi Raikkonen said he was happy with his third podium finish of the 2009 season after coming home in third at the European Grand Prix.

Despite having started from sixth position, the Ferrari driver made his way through the field and finished 15 seconds behind race winner Rubens Barrichello in one of the Italian squad's strongest races this season. Raikkonen admitted he had push hard during the whole race, given Ferrari is still behind its rivals in terms of pace.

"We needed to go 100 percent all the time," he said. "I had a good feeling with the car: from Friday it was working on the long stints and I was hoping it would be okay in the race. It turned out to be good. We know we are not where we need to be, we are a little behind but once we get the car running well, then usually we can fight for third if something weird happens in the race. It was a good weekend for me and I am happy to score a podium."

Raikkonen beat McLaren's Heikki Kovalainen to the final podium slot, after the pair had a hard fight in the middle part of the race.

"The first aim was to keep Rosberg behind, the car was very good, I could do exactly the same lap time (every time)," Raikkonen added. "I saw that I was catching him a bit, I had a little bit of traffic, so it cost some time. I put a few good laps when we came in and it was enough, the last stint was just to stay in third and the car was very nice to drive."

Transcript of the FIA press conference:

Question: Kimi, great drive from you starting sixth and finishing third. How hard did you have to work for that today?

Kimi: We needed to go 100 per cent all the time. I knew from Friday already I had a good feeling with the car. It was working very well on the longer stints, so I was hoping that it would be okay in the race and it turned out to be good. We know that we are not where we want to be. We are not really bringing new parts anymore for the car, so we are a little bit behind the leaders. But once we get the car running well and it feels good, then usually we can fight for third place. If something weird happens in the race, then maybe we can even fight for the win, but overall it was a good weekend for me and I am really happy to score the podium.

Question: Kimi, the key target for you I guess was getting Kovalainen at the second stop. Tell us how you did it.

Kimi: I mean the first target was to try and keep (Nico) Rosberg behind. But then after the pit stop I noticed that I was able to catch Kovalainen. The car was very good. We would go the exact same lap time and sometimes we would go a little bit faster, so I saw that I was catching him a bit and I had a little bit of traffic, one car, two cars and yellow flags which cost some time, but we knew that we had a few laps on him. I put in a few good laps when he came in and it was enough. I could quite easily get in front of him and the last stint was just to stay in third place. The car was really nice to drive.

Question: Kimi, same with you really. Right from the start of the weekend you reckoned you were going to be on the podium.

Kimi: Yeah, that’s what happened, so we were not wrong. The car felt good on Friday already and usually when you have a good feeling with the car you can do much more with it. We knew that it was not going to be easy because usually in qualifying we cannot challenge the guys but in race conditions we are usually stronger compared to qualifying. A lot of things always depend on the start and I was again able to pick up a few places at the start and then we were able to use our own speed and pick up some places.

Question: Two successive podiums now: are you going to be a regular on the podium too? There are only three steps of course…

Kimi: Yeah, it’s not easy to get there, but it really depends on the conditions of the weekend, the circuit layout a bit. Spa has usually been good for me but I don’t know if it’s good for our car right now, so we need to go there and see how it starts to go on Friday but we will push as much as we can. We’re not going to get more new parts on the car, so it’s going to get more and more difficult at every race. Once we get everything running well, we always give ourselves a chance to be there at least. We try every race and see where we can end up.

Question: (Heikki Kulta – Turun Sanomat) Kimi, how difficult is it to keep McLaren behind in the Constructors’ Championship?

Kimi: It’s going to be difficult at the end of the year, especially if only one car is scoring points and they go as fast as they are going now. We do the best that we can but it’s not going to be easy but many things can happen. As long as we can finish in the top four I think we still have a good chance to hold them back but we will see what happens. We will give the best that we can and that’s all that we can do.

Question: (Michael Schmidt – Auto Motor und Sport) Kimi, why is the car’s performance in qualifying worse than in the race; what are the limitations of the car in qualifying?

Kimi: It’s not fast enough. It’s not the first time that the car is fast in race conditions when we put in more fuel. Comparing Q1 and Q2 to Q3 we usually are a bit stronger and the car is working better with the heavier fuel than the low fuel, but that’s how it’s been for me at least since I joined Ferrari. We know that if we work more on the Fridays and Saturdays for the race and really just try to make it through the first two qualifying sessions to get the fuel in the car and then try to make the best out of the last qualifying. Our only chance to score points is to have a strong car in the race and usually we can help the starts a bit with the KERS, so that always gives us a little extra help on the first lap, so if we can manage to make the car good for the race, then we can usually have a strong weekend.

Question: (Andrea Cremonesi – La Gazzetta dello Sport) Kimi, do you feel penalised that you have a team-mate who is learning and can’t share the data with you, so you have to work with all the team?

Kimi: No, I’ve always been working… there are certain things that you can split between team-mates, sometimes when you are not a hundred percent certain with the tyres, but this weekend the tyres have been straightforward. It hasn’t been hurting me at all. We always work alongside and of course there are some things that you can share; at least this weekend it hasn’t made any difference for us.