Kimi Raikonnen used some painkillers, physiotherapy and gritted teeth to take third place in Sunday's Singapore Grand Prix.

The Finn's place in the race had been in doubt after he aggravated a longstanding back injury and struggled during Saturday's qualifying, finishing in a lowly 13th place.

However he made it onto the grid, and was rewarded for his effort with a podium finish as he sliced through the field in the second half of the race, moving up from 10th.

"I didn't feel it too much during the race," Raikkonen said. "Yesterday was not ideal and I almost didn't drive. Now, afterwards, it's not 100 percent. We have two weeks to rest and get it right. We did the best we could, and could not achieve much more today."

The back injury dates back to Raikkonen's early days in F1 when he had a major crash in practice when driving for Sauber.

The problem looks to be a chronic one for the Finn, who is moving back to Ferrari next year for a second spell with the Italian team.

"It is not the first time I have had some issues with my back and I know I have some work to do over the winter so we will see what we can do," Raikkonen said.

The Lotus driver pulled off the best passing move of Sunday's race when he went around the outside of McLaren's Jenson Button seven laps from the finish to move up to third.

"It's not an easy one but I managed to get past and that is the main thing," Raikkonen said.