• Bahrain Grand Prix

Raikkonen disappointed not to win

Kimi Raikkonen had one chance to pass Sebastian Vettel but did not make the move stick © Getty Images

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Kimi Raikkonen said he was disappointed not to win the Bahrain Grand Prix, but is confident Lotus is capable of challenging for victory again this season.

Raikkonen finished 3.3s behind race winner Sebastian Vettel in Bahrain and at one point had a chance to pass the Red Bull for the lead in the third stint. It was Raikkonen's first podium on his return, but he felt a win was possible.

"I'm a bit disappointed not to win," he told Sky Sports. "We had the speed today and I got one try to pass Sebastian, but I couldn't use it because I picked the wrong side to go down under braking and then my tyres dropped off. That was it. I pretty much knew that was my only chance and unfortunately we didn't win, but I'm happy for the team to be second and third, which is very good."

But Raikkonen is confident Lotus' time will come this season.

"It's very nice for them [the team], but of course I wanted to win and I would have been much happier with myself if I had won. Nevertheless, the team showed what they've got and probably we can put ourselves more often in this position. We had the car to be up there in the first three races, but we made small mistakes and that cost us too much."

Asked directly if he thought he would pick up his 19th career win this season, Raikkonen said: "Today it wasn't far away. I probably should have made it but I didn't. As I said, hopefully we will put ourselves in this position to have a chance more often, but we have to work hard and improve certain areas on the car. I'm sure we can be up there more often and try to get the win.

He finished the race with damage to his front wing and revealed it had happened while pulling an overtaking move on one of the Ferraris.

"It was my mistake, I was just looking at something else and didn't expect the Ferrari to slow down so much in the middle of the corner and I touched it a little bit. But the car was still working well and I haven't seen the front wing, but I did see something flying off."

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