"This year there have been problems, perhaps originating from certain decisions, and when we went back it was too late. Maybe this has cost us the season, but at least we've learned something for next year."

Raikkonen claims that changes made to the car over the course of the season did not help him as much as teammate Felipe Massa, which is why stepping back to an old concept from the Belgian Grand Prix marked a turning point for his campaign.

"Well, we changed the car a bit, and probably this wasn't good for me," he said. "So we went back, I think at Spa, and things went much better. But at that point we were already behind, it was too late.

"However I feel good with the car at least, even though it isn't always the way I'd like it to be. Sometimes it goes well, other times it's difficult to make it consistent performance-wise.

"But what we've learned will be useful next year too. I know we'll have different cars and tyres, but certain things remain the same."