Kimi Raikkonen admits the lap which earned him third on grid for the Brazilian Grand Prix was still "pretty average".
Raikkonen jumped up to third late in the session, putting him ahead of Red Bull's Max Verstappen on the second row of the grid. Despite being best of the rest behind the Mercedes drivers Raikkonen admits he had been struggling for pace before and during his last attempt.
"I struggled the whole qualifying, in a few places, a few corners and in the middle sector," he said. "To be honest the last lap was pretty average in my view, but obviously it was enough to be in third place. The Mercedes seems to be a bit too far.
"I struggled in the first two corners with tyre warm-up a bit and even the middle I wasn't very happy but I don't mind, it was good enough for this and we will see what we can do."
Red Bull came into the weekend hoping to fight Mercedes again but has slipped into the clutches of Ferrari as it has progressed. There is one of either car on the second and third row and Raikkonen thinks the complexion of the grid shows Ferrari is still making improvements this late in the year.
"It's been very close with Red Bull, most of the year. Sometimes we've been a bit behind, sometimes in front. I think we've done in the recent races a very good job as a team, improved in certain areas, tried new things and have learned some positive things.
"As a team we've worked very well and that has helped us to go back to where we were at the start of the year. Hopefully we can have a good, strong race tomorrow. I think it's all about learning from what we've done, improving things and having everyone pushing in the same direction."