Kimi Raikkonen says it was no great surprise to qualify seventh on the grid for Sunday's Italian Grand Prix, although his team had been aiming for sixth.

Raikkonen was eighth fastest in the session but was promoted one place thanks to Paul di Resta's gearbox penalty. The Lotus has struggled to match the pace of the frontrunners all weekend and Raikkonen said the result was more or less what he had expected.

"We didn't have the speed today but at least we are in the top ten," he said. "We've been in more or less the same position all weekend so today's pace was not a big surprise. It's a long race and usually we are a bit stronger in race conditions. It is possible to overtake here so let's see what happens tomorrow."

However, Alan Permane has been hoping for a higher grid position.

"We're a little disappointed with where we are on the grid for tomorrow's race, as P6 was our target with Kimi's car and we missed that by just half a tenth," he said. "Kimi had Fernando [Alonso] ahead of his for his last run, which should have given him a nice tow. Unfortunately though, Fernando was not fast on that lap and we were too close.

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