F1: Ferrari praises "terrific" Raikkonen

Ferrari Formula 1 boss Marco Mattiacci hailed Kimi Raikkonen's Brazilian Grand Prix performance "terrific" amid his season of struggle with the F14 T.

The 2007 world champion has found Ferrari's 2014 F1 car difficult to drive for most of the year, and has usually been well-beaten by teammate Fernando Alonso. But on Sunday at Interlagos, Raikkonen was the only driver to complete the race on just two pit stops, and battled for sixth place with Alonso before finishing close behind him in seventh.

Mattiacci reckons Ferrari made a breakthrough in getting its car to suit Raikkonen's driving style.

"I think we have seen a very positive Kimi this weekend," Mattiacci said. "He had a terrific race. I would say [this was] one of the first weekends where Kimi really felt the car suited him, and we have seen the way with [his] racing."

Mattiacci said the process of getting Ferrari's car to suit Raikkonen was ongoing, and denied the Finn still needed to raise his own game, despite another ultimate defeat to Alonso.

"Kimi is a top professional, [he] doesn't [need to] respond to positive pressure," Mattiacci added. "We work well together. He's a top driver [and] we're building step by step preparing for the future.

"They [top drivers] know very well how to react to pressure. I'm extremely happy for the race he did."

Raikkonen reckoned he could have beaten Alonso to sixth without a delay at his second stop caused by damage to the front jack.

"I think we could have been one place better but we had some problems in the pit stop," Raikkonen said. "I think over the whole weekend the car has been more normal and I could drive it more normally.

"It's definitely been better. My tires lasted pretty well. It's going in the right way. There's still quite a bit of work to be done on the package, but we know that, and we're improving."

According to reports, F1 superpowers Red Bull and Ferrari have indicated that, if asked, they will run three cars next season.

The Times newspaper claims that both teams will field an additional car in 2015 if, as expected, neither Marussia nor Caterham return to the sport.

“If the numbers drop below a certain number - which I think is 16 - we are obliged to run a third car, that is in our contract. But that is not the case and we haven’t been requested to,” Red Bull boss Christian Horner told Sky F1.

“We hope all the teams will be there and support a full grid of two-car teams. We want a healthy grid, healthy racing and competitive racing.