Hamilton wary of Raikkonen challenge

ESPNstar.com - Saturday 6th September 2008
Lewis Hamilton is refusing to write off Kimi Raikkonen's chances of retaining his Formula One world title.
Raikkonen endured another uncomfortable day behind the wheel of his Ferrari on Friday as he slid off the Spa track during second practice for the Belgian Grand Prix on Sunday.
The end result left the Finn depositing the rear wing of his car on the circuit, along with a great deal of water, which accounted for Giancarlo Fisichella in his Force India only three minutes later. Raikkonen was also fined a total of 4,900 euros (£3,955) for two separate incidents where he exceeded the pit lane speed limit. They were just the latest woes to blight the 28-year-old 12 days after the engine blew on his Ferrari during the European Grand Prix in Valencia.
After eight races without a win, Raikkonen is now 13 points adrift of Hamilton in the championship standings and seven behind team-mate Felipe Massa.
Yet Hamilton said: "He has his work cut out to catch us up, and Felipe is the closest target for me at the moment. "But there are six races remaining and a lot of points available, so I don't think it's over for Kimi." One man who knows Raikkonen will not be throwing in the towel is McLaren boss Ron Dennis, who employed him for five years prior to his departure to Ferrari.
"Kimi is a fierce competitor, a highly-talented racing driver and I wouldn't levy any criticism at him at all," Dennis said. "The bottom line is drivers have good and bad races, and I'm sure he will forget his one in Valencia. He is more than capable of winning, so I wouldn't discount him at this stage". "With only six races to go, I wouldn't want to make any predictions about him. That's the worst thing we could do."
Criticism has been levied at Raikkonen, though, that in the wake of his title triumph last season, he no longer has the drive and will to win. That has been sharply refuted by Ferrari boss Stefano Domenicali, who said: "Kimi's motivation is very high".
"He doesn't like the situation at the moment, but in terms of motivation I am pretty sure he has a lot inside.
"What we are doing as a team is supporting him and trying to work very hard with him, and I am looking forward to seeing again what all of us are expecting."
Despite his shunt in second practice, Raikkonen posted the second quickest time of the day set in first practice behind Massa, with Hamilton a distant third, 0.6 seconds off the pace.