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Kimi Raikkonen believes he has made some progress in improving his qualifying performances even though he still cannot get the Lotus to handle as he wants it to.

The Finn was sixth fastest in qualifying for the Indian Grand Prix, his best position on Saturday since he took fourth on the German GP grid in July.

Raikkonen revealed on Friday that the camber and pressure limits introduced from the Nurburgring have held him back, but while he is not happy there have been some gains.

When asked by AUTOSPORT if qualifying is back to normal, he replied: "No, I don't think so.

"The issues are still there but it's maybe a little bit less.

"We can go much faster but we have to do those things [change restricted settings].

"Overall, it was a little bit better, but it's still not as I want it. There are still some issues."

The 2007 Formula 1 world champion is hopeful of being able to contend for a podium finish from his place on the third row.

In the last three races, he has finished in the top five every time, twice on the podium, even though he started no higher than ninth.

"Usually we go better in the race, so that's the aim and we have to see what happens tomorrow," he said.

"There are a lot of different ways of doing the race, differences with the tyres, so we will see how it goes.

"You cannot plan the race as there are a lot of things you cannot plan, the start, safety cars.

"You try to make the best decisions where it comes and see where we are."