Kimi Raikkonen has said that Lotus did not have the pace to qualify on pole for tomorrow's Chinese Grand Prix.

The Finn will start the race from second, as Mercedes's Lewis Hamilton posted the fastest time in qualifying earlier today.

The 2007 world champion told Autosport: "I knew the gap was quite big still and we don't have that speed right now.

"Second is not too bad, it is the best I can gain with the team. I'd rather be in first place, but we didn't have the speed.

"The car works the way I want it to. It has been a pretty tricky weekend to get things exactly right, it's very sensitive, but we are happy to be where we are now."

Raikkonen won the season-opening Australian Grand Prix last month.