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Kimi Raikkonen says he is much happier with the handling of his Ferrari Formula 1 car so far during the Brazilian Grand Prix weekend, despite only qualifying 10th.

The Finn has struggled for much of the season with the F14 T, particularly with understeer, and last weekend after the US GP he said he hated the situation he was in with the car.

However, on Saturday at Interlagos, Raikkonen told reporters in the paddock that he was much happier.

"It's been pleasant to drive the car all weekend," said the 2007 world champion. "That's a nice thing.

"Obviously to finish 10th is a different story but definitely we have been making some progress on that side.

"This weekend the car has been behaving pretty nicely. It's been a better feeling, it's a good point."

Raikkonen said that the race on Sunday would give conclusive answers on if Ferrari has properly solved his difficulties.

"We have to see how it is because we didn't do long runs yesterday," he said, referring to the red flags in free practice that disrupted a lot of teams' programmes.

"But it's been going in the right direction. We had some tyre wear yesterday but I think everyone did with such a hot circuit."

PROGRESS MORE IMPORTANT THAN POINTS

The Finn added that at times he has ended up sacrificing performance in races because he believes it is more important to work through his problems rather than purely focus on results.

"We tried many things this year and it hasn't worked out," he said. "Probably that has cost us some points.

"But I want to try things and find out. It's been such a difficult year that I'd rather try things.

"If it doesn't work out then we pay a price for it and that's fine."

Raikkonen also played down the different rear suspension set-up he is running compared to team-mate Fernando Alonso this weekend.

"They're not really new parts, just different things we've been running," he said.

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"What we have available is not a new design, it's just trying to run the car differently.

"It's been pretty good all weekend, and even if we are only 10th there were not really any major issues."

ALONSO RANT 'NO BIG THING'

Alonso caused a stir during qualifying when an angry radio message from the Spaniard was played during Q1, but the two-time world champion played the matter down afterwards.

"In Q1 we were not ready to do the laps," said Alonso.

"My first lap was a recharging lap because I had no battery going out of the garage.

"We were not prepared for Q1 - we were not ready for that lap. But no big thing.

"Obviously when it goes on television, it becomes a big thing.

"But there are a hundred of these things that don't go on television, and it's normal."