Raikkonen seeks Barcelona boost

Kimi Raikkonen is targeting the first win of his Formula One comeback when the teams head to Barcelona for the Spanish Grand Prix next weekend.

The 2007 world champion has returned to the sport with Lotus this season after spending two years competing in the World Rally Championship.

The Finn has impressed with his speed in the four races so far, and pushed world champion Sebastian Vettel all the way at the last round in Bahrain, eventually settling for second as a cautious pit strategy saw a potential victory slip away.

But the former McLaren and Ferrari driver has been buoyed by the pace Lotus have shown so far in 2012, and says the natural goal now has to be to start winning races.

"I am here to race and I race to win," he said. "That is the target for me and the team. We want to win grands prix. We have a good car and we saw in Bahrain it is good enough to win. That's the target."

Prior to Bahrain, Raikkonen had been frustrated as several minor problems meant his results did not reflect his level of performance.

But the insists he never lost faith, and that the double podium at Sakhir, where team-mate Romain Grosjean finished third, has given the team a major lift.

"I never had any doubts in myself and it is clear we have a good car so in some ways the podium could have come sooner," he said.

"We had the car already in the first three races to be up there, but we made some small mistakes and it cost us a lot.

"I would have been much happier if we had managed to get the victory, but nevertheless it's a good result and the team deserved it for all their hard work. We have been good in every race so far, so hopefully we will be regular visitors to the podium this season."