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Kimi Raikkonen conceded he did not have the fastest car at the Belgian Grand Prix after taking his first win of the season, which he labelled as a great result for Ferrari.

The Italian squad has struggled to match the pace of the leading teams this year, but Raikkonen made good use of his KERS technology and his rivals' problems to return to the top step of the podium for the first time since the Spanish Grand Prix last year. The 2007 world champion had to fend off a sensational challenge from Force India's Giancarlo Fisichella, who finished less than a second behind. Raikkonen admitted he had to work hard for his victory.

"It hasn't been easy year for us," said Raikkonen. "We were behind straight away in the first race compared to the top teams and we made a big step in Barcelona but it still has not been enough and for sure we have not brought new parts to the car for a few races as we are putting effort into next year. Getting the win now... It's quite a long time since the last one. My aim was to win at least one race and try and finish third in the championship, this helps a lot but I needed a bit of effort today to get the win. We were not the fastest in the lap times but we were fastest and kept everyone behind. It is great for the team and hopefully we can get some good results after this race. I always do well here, we see what we can do in the last part of the season."

The Ferrari driver acknowledged that the crucial moment of the race was when he overtook Fisichella thanks to his KERS technology, and the Finn said it would have been hard to beat the Italian had he not passed him early on.

"I knew that we needed to get past him because more or less we were coming in on the same lap and if I didn't do it after the safety car they had too much speed to get it after that," he said. "I made sure I was close enough up to first corner and went behind him, got quite a bit of understeer and ran wide at top of hill but once I used KERS I managed to get in front of him. I knew as long as we didn't make silly mistakes we would be okay on the race."

Transcript of the FIA press conference after the race:

Question: Kimi, your fourth victory here in Spa. It has been a difficult season for the team but today you proved a point.

Kimi: Yes, I mean it hasn't been an easy year for us. We were behind straight away in the first race compared to the top teams and we made a big step in Barcelona but it still has not been enough and for sure we have not brought new parts to the car for a few races as we are really putting an effort into next year. I mean getting the win now, it's quite a long time since the last one, so it was perfect. My aim was to win at least one race and try to keep third place in the championship, so this is going to help us a lot but I needed a bit of effort today to get the win. We probably were not the fastest in the lap times but overall we were fastest and we managed to keep everybody behind, so that’s enough. It is great for the team and hopefully we can get some good results after this race. I always do well here; we will see what we can do in the last part of the season.

Question: Kimi, the key really was that pass on Giancarlo after the restart on lap five. Talk us through how you lined up Giancarlo and passed him.

Kimi: I knew that we needed to get past him as more or less we were on the same lap coming in and if I hadn’t done after the safety car they had too much speed to get it after that. I just made sure I was close enough after the first corner and then went behind him as close as I could through Eau Rouge. I got quite a lot of understeer and ran a bit wide on top of the hill but then once I used the KERS I was able to get next to him and just in front of him, so it was pretty easy in that way to get in front of him. I knew then as long as we don’t make silly mistakes, we should be ok for the race.

Question: Kimi, sum up this love affair you have with this magnificent Spa-Francorchamps circuit. Four times a winner here. What is it about this place and you?

Kimi: I don’t think there has been any special thing. Unfortunately last year we lost it in the last lap more or less. I think many drivers like it. It is a proper circuit. An old style circuit, very flowing and up and down hills, and it is good fun to drive. It is in the forest and it is just everything what you want. Usually I have always been pretty very good here since I was here the first time many, many years ago. It just seems to be good for me somehow. I don’t mind. It is a nice place to win. Also we get very good races here. It is good for spectators, for teams, for drivers. It has been a pretty good weekend. Of course yesterday we could have done better to make out life a bit easier but anyhow we managed to win which is the main thing. It is good right now and we try to keep it up for the next races.

Question: Kimi, what does this win mean to you personally after quite a difficult season?

Kimi: We have been trying to get it. Of course we need to be realistic as we know that our car is not as fast as the teams ahead of us in the championship, but in some places, like the last couple of circuits, it has been pretty okay. In Hungary we were closer to winning that ever before this year. Here we managed to do it. It really depends on the circuit. This is important for the team, they will enjoy it, especially after the hard time this year. But we can’t expect to win races after races, so we are going to give 100 per cent every weekend but it really depends if we get it 100 per cent right or not and if something funny happens, like here in qualifying. It gives us a much better chance but it was a good result for the team and we are very happy.

Question: How much pressure did you feel with Giancarlo right up behind you?

Kimi: I knew that he was faster. Probably we did a little mistake to put on the harder tyres at the first pit stop and they just did not warm up and maybe like three laps before the stop they suddenly started to work much better. I was able to push harder. I knew that if I could keep him behind at the pit stop it is pretty difficult for him to get past. They were very fast in the middle sector, coming back to the last chicane. Sometimes they got very close but I just started to use the KERS in a slightly different way to make sure he was not going to get a run on me and it was not so difficult. I mean it is hard to overtake anyhow, so it was very easy.

Question: At the first corner you were the only driver that went wide. Was that something that you had discussed with the team?

Kimi: No, first I tried to go the normal way but I think it was Nick or somebody who came a bit too fast inside and pushed Jarno Trulli very wide, so I had nowhere to go. I just needed to turn straight and go all the way around. It worked out but it wasn’t the plan in the first place but there was no space.

Question: Were you able to use the KERS perhaps earlier?

Kimi: No, I mean it is very bumpy there. I ended up there also last year. It doesn’t make much difference. It is a much longer way. If I could go on the circuit I would but if it would be fast I’d try to do it every lap but that was not the case.

Question: What about your chances at Monza?

Kimi: It will be difficult. Our car is not as strong as some others over the kerbs and that is really the key to go fast there. To be able to drive the kerbs as much as you want, that is not our strongest point, so it will be difficult I think but we will see how our car will handle there and what we can do.

Question: (Alberto Antonini – Autosprint) Kimi, well done. You said Ferrari hasn’t brought many new parts to the last races but you’ve still taken two podium finishes and a win. Could that be you and not the car?

Kimi: I guess everybody can decide for themselves. We found a bit of a different way for the car. We started going a bit of a different way at the start of the year and then came back in the previous races. For sure, the car is not as quick as we want, as maybe it should be, but it’s handling well, and that sometimes gives much more than you can drive – when you can drive it as you want, it sometimes gets you in a better position. I’m happy with the way it works, but with more downforce I’m pretty sure it could be a very fast car, but we know that we’re not really getting any new parts, so we are where we are and as long as we get everything working well and the car feels good, I think we can still manage to get good results. It’s difficult to expect more wins but hopefully (we can expect) podiums and good points and maybe in some circumstances a win.

Question: (Heikki Kulta – Turun Sanomat) Kimi, could you have won without KERS and where was it the most important, when you took the lead or when you were defending?

Kimi: There’s no point in wondering if we could have won (without KERS) or not. We won and we have KERS at every race and that’s a fact. It helped at the start. I actually got a very good start, but then there was Barrichello – I don’t know what happened to him at the start, so it already helped there and then passing Robert, I think, and then of course, it helped to pass Fisichella. It worked well for us, but it’s a normal thing for us to use it at every race, so it’s not like it’s going to disappear suddenly.

Question: (Ottavio Daviddi – Tuttosport) Kimi, there are a lot of rumours about Giancarlo as your next team-mate, as you know. May I have your opinion about him?

Kimi: For me, it doesn’t matter who is in the second car, it’s not my decision. For sure the team will decide on whatever happens for the next race. But if I purely look at this race, they probably had a faster car than us, so it’s probably a bit of a difficult decision in that way.

Question: (Juha Päätalo – Financial Times Deutschland) Kimi, you said that you changed the way how you use KERS to defend. Can you explain what you did exactly?

Kimi: I was using more in the last part than before, just to make sure I got good speed on the back straight. That was the only difference.

Question: (Paulo Ianieri – La Gazzetta dello Sport) Kimi, it looks like you are somehow giving Ferrari a hard time, considering all the rumours about next year, because it was said that you might leave Ferrari because you’re not performing as well now. Lately, you’ve been doing pretty well. Is there something inside of you that is bringing you to this, showing that the real Räikkönen is still there?

Kimi: No. Nothing has changed, as I said. We found a pretty good way to work with the car. We did well in Monaco. The last race was very similar, Hungary was similar. This place is a bit different than many others. It’s purely that where the car has been strong we’ve been doing quite well every time. There’s nothing that I’ve done differently. We’ve just achieved a good result now and hopefully we can keep it up. I think there will be races where it’s not going to be easy for us but we can always try. There have been rumours almost every year since I’ve been in Formula One, so I don’t really care about them. I’m not worried about next year. I have a contract, so it’s nothing that I should be worried about. I don’t make the decisions in the end but we will see what happens. Maybe Ferrari have some other plans, but as far as I know nothing has changed.

Question: (Michael Schmidt – Auto Motor und Sport) Kimi, according to the fuel weights, you should have been able to go at least two laps longer than Giancarlo. Giancarlo mentioned before that he was saving fuel behind the safety car but I guess you did the same, so why did you come in on the same lap?

Kimi: I don’t know. It’s difficult to say. Some engines use a bit more fuel than others. I think our engine probably uses a bit more fuel than the Renaults or McLarens. Maybe that’s the one difference. I tried to get my tyres warmed up quite heavily behind the safety car, so I definitely didn’t try to save as much as we could. But it paid off, we got first place after the safety car and that counts much more than one lap on a pit stop.

Question: (Joonas Partanen – Iltalehti) Kimi, it has been almost a year and a half since you last won, so did the champagne taste better on the podium compared to those times you were second and third, and then another question: some people have suggested that you won’t cut your hair until you have won again, so are you going to cut it now?

Kimi: No, it’s nothing to do with that. There’s always speculation in Formula One and b****t as we know. It doesn’t change anything. It’s the same stuff. When you’re first or second or third, it makes no difference what is in the bottle, but of course the feeling is nicer overall. It’s good for the team and good for me, so in that way it’s nice.