He may have lost the lead in the Championship but Fernando Alonso says Ferrari still have reasons to be happy about their Korean GP performance.
As Sebastian Vettel - Alonso's main rival for the World title - scampered off into the distance at the Yeongam circuit, Mark Webber slotted into second place, keeping Alonso at bay.
The Ferrari driver could do little to challenge either Red Bull racer and brought his F2012 home in third place ahead of team-mate Felipe Massa.
As a result, Alonso is now trailing Vettel by six points in the Drivers' Championship having held a four-point advantage heading into Korea.
"Yeah definitely," he said when asked if he was happy with his Korean result.
"I think we can be happy with the performance today we were third and fourth behind Red bull who at the moment are difficult to beat."
He added: "We are moving in the right direction. We just need an extra step to be as competitive as Red Bull."
"There were a lot of question marks before the race but being on the podium is a good relief."
But while that may have been a relief, Alonso did lose the lead in the Drivers' standings to Vettel, who he now trails by six points with four races still to be run.
"We lost the Championship lead but there is very little you can do.
"We are honest with ourselves and we know we are not bringing in enough pace to the races.
"I don't know why, but definitely in terms of performance we are not where we wanted to be.
"But still there are 100 points on the table. Things look a little bit better for us and in the last four races we will have our chance."
Ferrari did least make up ground in the Constructors' Championship as they moved ahead of arch rivals McLaren.
With Alonso and Massa bringing home 27 points and McLaren recording just one, Ferrari are now second in the teams' battle by six points over McLaren. Red Bull remain first.
"We passed McLaren in the Championship which was something we didn't expect three or four races ago," the Spaniard.
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