Raikkonen finds positives after France.

Kimi Raikkonen's mood has changed from downbeat to optimistic after the Finn had time to reflect on his French Grand Prix, despite having seen a third race win of the year go begging through no fault of his own.

Ferrari had been the class of the field at Magny-Cours, and the world champion appeared to be on course for victory despite team-mate Felipe Massa running competitively on a heavier initial fuel load. When Raikkonen emerged ahead of the Brazilian at the crucial first pit-stop, he was favourite to take the win, only for an exhaust failure to sap his power and allow Massa through to both victory and the championship lead.

"Victory was close, but unfortunately there was a good first part [to the race], while the second turned into a nightmare," the Finn sighed, "I had a good start and was able to build up a gap on Felipe. Then, at around the mid-point of the race, I noticed a drop in the engine's performance and immediately noticed that the right exhaust pipe was missing - I could see the piece flapping around in my rear-view mirror.

"From then on, I was really worried. I thought that I might not be able to finish the race. Over the last laps, the car seemed as if it wanted to stop, so I can really be glad that I came in second. I have to admit that it has never been better to see the chequered flag. Once again, we proved the you should never give up."

With so much distance covered since the problem first raised its head, the Scuderia is struggling to diagnose exactly what went wrong for Raikkonen, who had been a force throughout the build-up to the race.

"The team still doesn't know exactly what happened - they will do some tests, but it's difficult to find an answer without the exhaust pipe and with an engine that has been under stress like that for half of the race," the Finn admitted, "I didn't have any problem during the three free practice sessions, and immediately had a good feeling with the car. I gained the pole position and was four-tenths of a second faster in the second try in Q3, when the team asked me to come in to save some fuel."

Despite the frustration at being denied the victory to go with those already gained in Malaysia and Spain, however, Raikkonen managed to find some positives to take from the French weekend.

"I don't know if to be disillusioned or glad after what happened on Sunday afternoon," he admitted, "Immediately after the race, I was really disappointed, but now I have to say that I'm satisfied with the result; and that's what counts.

"I took the 200th pole for Ferrari, and I'm really proud that I was the one to gain it, just like last year in China, where I gained the 200th win. Obviously, I'm sorry that I didn't win a race where everything went well in the beginning, but we have to look at the positive aspects.

"The team did great work and I gained eight points even though I had a problem which could have made me retire. Now I'm closer to the top [of the championship] than I was after Canada. It's a hard championship, with four drivers close together - we're not even halfway through the season and there are still loads of points to gain. Last year, at this point, I was 20 points behind!"

Raikkonen, now five points adrift of Massa, will also be encouraged by the next stop on the schedule, after winning last year's British Grand Prix. With his team-mate heading the first day of testing at Silverstone, the Finn is confident that the Scuderia can continue its march towards retaining both world titles.

"We expect to be really competitive at Silverstone," he insisted, "This week, all the teams will test there ahead of the British GP, and I'll drive on Thursday after Felipe has tested for two days. I like the track and I have fond memories of it - and it's good to come here with a car that can fight for the win."