Kimi Raikkonen was delighted to keep himself in world title contention with a brilliant victory in the Chinese Grand Prix.

The 27-year-old Finn bided his time in the wet early stages of the race at the Shanghai circuit, but made his move for the lead when Lewis Hamilton began to struggle for grip as both drivers' intermediate tyres began to overheat as the track dried out.

After that it was just a case of holding off Fernando Alonso, which he did easily, to take his Ferrari to his fifth win of the season and the 14th of his career, a result that leaves him just seven points behind Hamilton heading to the final race of the season in Brazil.

"I am very happy! It is a really great result for me and the whole team, who done a truly excellent job," said Raikkonen. "We needed this win and we got it.

"At the start of the race, I had a lot of understeer but then the situation improved. I was one of the last to switch to dry tyres but this was a help as after a little while the rain began to fall again.

"Even after the second stop I had a bit of understeer, but as before, the situation improved in the final stages. I knew Alonso was very quick but I was in full control of the situation. The car overall was working well both in the wet and in the dry.

Raikkonen will be will aware that even if he wins in Brazil, he needs Alonso to be lower than second and Hamilton lower than fifth if he is to take the title.

His team-mate Felipe Massa, who will now be asked to play the team game in his home race, came home third in China, but believes he would have been higher up had he not switched to dry tyres quite so early.

"I had hoped to be fighting for the win, but the race was affected by the changing weather conditions," Massa said.

"At the moment I switched to dry tyres, the timing was not ideal. The rain came back immediately and it was really difficult to stay on track.

"In any case, in these instances, it can pay off to take risks: sometimes it works out and sometimes not. After a few difficulties with graining, the situation to the extent that, in the final part of the race, I was going very well. "

Jamie O'Leary / Eurosport