Raikkonen: Not the easiest day

Ferrari driver Kimi Raikkonen has described qualifying for the Mexico Grand Prix as "not the easiest", with the Finn only managing P6 on the grid.

Raikkonen ended a 113 race-long win drought last weekend in Austin, finished qualifying in sixth place, with his lap-time nearly four tenths slower than his team-mate Sebastian Vettel.

The Finn will start on the Ultrasoft compound on Sunday after the Hypersoft tyre proved too problematic to run with during Friday's practice sessions with its excessive wear and loss of grip in Mexico City.

"For sure it was not the easiest qualifying, but this is how it goes sometimes," Raikkonen explained to The Checkered Flag. "Today, the overall feeling with the car was better than yesterday; we improved and that is a positive fact."

The heat on track was a major talking point on Friday but some rain overnight cooled the temperatures and brought Scuderia closer to the Mercedes and Red Bull times.

"In the cooler conditions of this morning, it seemed much easier," Raikkonen added. "In qualifying, some laps were pretty good in some places and on the next one, they were better in other places, so it was hard to put the lap together. It is going to be a long and difficult race, for sure."