I can't wait to race in Barcelona - Raikkonen

After three races in the 2008 Formula One Championship, the 2007 World Champion Kimi Raikkonen has taken the lead in the standings. Raikkonen won the race at Malaysia and finished yesterday's Bahrain GP in second place, just behind team mate Felipe Massa. The Iceman is already looking forward to defend his lead in the championship at Spain.

Kimi Raikkonen: "We came to Bahrain hoping for a double win and it worked out: it's difficult to do any better. True, the second place was not ideal for me, but it was a great weekend for Ferrari, making up ground in the Constructors' Championship, where we are second now, just one point behind the leader. The Team gives its best to remain on this level. There's no better reward for all these efforts, than seeing two Ferraris ahead of all the other cars. Felipe has done some great work since Friday, while I had some problems finding the right set up for the car, especially on Saturday. During the race the set up was very difficult to handle, especially on the first two laps, when there was oil on the track. The situation improved and I could press more and keep a good race rhythm. But when you know that you'll come in one lap before your teammate, there's hardly anything you can do.

"I want to win races and fight for the title: coming in second left me a bit disappointed. Sometimes certain weekends are just like that and the one in Bahrain was one of them. For one reason or the other the Sakhir circuit does not seem to be very favourable to me. But there's still some satisfaction at the end of this GP: I'm leading the Drivers' Championship. When we think about how many points we gained in Melbourne this is a great result.

"The worst part of the weekend was the Qualifying and then the start; I had Felipe in front of me and I knew that I couldn't lead a trump. The BMWs were very close. I managed to pass Kubica, when he had some trouble: this was an important moment, because his race rhythm was very good. In the end I already said that in this season it will be very hard to gain every single place. It will be a very long and tough Championship. I wouldn't be surprised if BMW won some races this year. There will be GPs where we will be stronger and others where they will have an advantage; the same is true for McLaren, who remain very competitive.

"After the first three races we're now heading back to Europe. I can't wait to race in Barcelona, where we're also having some tests over the next week. We'll give it all to remain ahead of our competitors."