Raikkonen confident of catching F1 leader Hamilton

Eurosport.yahoo.com - Thu 21 Aug, 02:16 AM
VALENCIA, Spain (AFP) - Defending world champion Finn Kimi Raikkonen will go into this weekend's European Grand Prix confident that he can overhaul Lewis Hamilton to lift this year's Formula One title.
The Ferrari driver said he is not concerned at trailing the 23-year-old Briton, who drives for McLaren Mercedes, by five points with seven races remaining.
"This season shows that you should never give up. There were some races where things didn't go well for one reason or another, but I was able to collect some precious points," said the flying Finn.
"My position after Hungary is better than it was before the race. We haven't lost anything, but we need to get better results consistently.
"From now on, every single race will be extremely important and every single point will have a great value, the fewer there are the more important they become.
"I think the championship will be very tight, but I need to have at least one point more than my competitors after the last race. This is the sole aim, the rest is just details."
Hamilton leads the title race with 62 points ahead of Raikkonen on 57 and Felipe Massa on 54.
Although Hamilton and McLaren are on form as they seek a fourth consecutive win for the team, following two by the young Englishman and one from his team-mate Finn Heikki Kovalainen, they know they cannot relax.
"The most important thing now is consistency," said Hamilton. "We need to score a decent return of points whenever we can and be consistent and as competitive as we can."
Hamilton picked up a puncture in Hungary, finishing fourth as Kovalainen won after Ferrari's Brazilian driver Massa suffered engine failure when he looked sure to win.
"This year, everybody's results have been more varied and every driver who has won a race has also failed to score on at least two other occasions," said Hamilton.
"That's made getting strong results even more important so I think we'll see consistency becoming crucial as we head towards the end of the season.
"We still feel confident about our chances. We know our rivals will be strong, but we've worked hard to improve the car and we're confident we'll be competitive this weekend.
"The most important thing is to finish consistently in the points."
Both Hamilton and Raikkonen are keen to prove themselves this weekend on the new 5.44-kms street circuit in Valencia, which has been used previously only for Formula Three and a sportscar race.
"I've only seen the new track from an on-board camera and it seems to be very fast for a street circuit," said Raikkonen.
"I always love to drive on new tracks and I'm always very quick to know them, I can't wait to race at Valencia.
"It will be more important than in other places to drive with continuity from Friday on. Qualifying will be extremely important, although I think there are some possibilities to overtake.
He added: "If it's hot, that will help Ferrari. Like at Montreal, you also need a bit of luck."
Hamilton won in Monaco earlier this year and has an affinity with street circuits that promises to make this weekend's showdown a race to remember.
"We launched the Vodafone McLaren Mercedes team here at the start of 2007 and I've tested at the Ricardo Tormo circuit so the city isn't unfamiliar to me," he said.
"Going to a new circuit doesn't really change my preparations: everybody's in the same situation so I don't treat things very differently." Boosted by his Hungarian win, team-mate Kovalainen is also confident he can run at the front again.
"The win doesn't change too much, really," he said. "I still believe I am improving and learning more about the team and the car at each race.
"My aim for the last part of the season is to win more races and to perform regularly at the front.
"It's something I was able to do from time to time in the first half of the year, but I now feel more confident that I can be a consistent challenger in the remaining races."
Ferrari lead the constructors championship with 111 points to McLaren on 100.

Raikkonen: Don't write me off
Eurosport.yahoo.com - Wed, 20 Aug 15:33:00 2008
Ferrari's reigning champion Kimi Raikkonen has said he should not be written out of the World Championship battle just yet as Formula One heads into the final seven races of the season.
Former world champion Niki Lauda - who won two titles with the Scuderia and one with McLaren - had suggested that the Finn was not a contender for the 2008 crown, despite his second position in the drivers' standings.
Raikkonen indicated that he believes he is close enough to points leader Lewis Hamilton of McLaren to launch a title assault. He is only five points adrift but his form is suffering whereas the Briton is performing well.
Raikkonen's team-mate Felipe Massa lies third, three points behind the Finn.
"We haven't lost anything yet, but we need to get consistently better results," Raikkonen said. "I think the championship will be very tight, with Ferrari and McLaren very close together in terms of performance and three drivers in a position to win the title.
"I need to have at least one point more than my competitors after the last race of the season - this is the sole aim. The rest is [simply] details."
He acknowledged that he has to hit top form to pip Hamilton again in 2008.
"From now on every single race will be extremely important," he said. "Every single point will have great value. The less there are to be won, the more important they become.
"This season shows that you should never give up. There were some races where things didn't go well for us but, for one reason or another, I was able to collect precious points.
"My position after Hungary is better than before the race."
Raikonnen added that he was looking forward to racing at the new Valencia street circuit.
"We have to start well at Valencia, where it's more important than in other places to drive with continuity from Friday onwards," he said.
"I've only seen the new track from the position of an on-board camera, but it seems to be very fast for a street circuit.
"I always love to drive on new tracks and I am always very quick to get to know them, so I can't wait to race at Valencia.
"I just hope I'll have a trouble-free weekend to try to set the car up in the best way possible, especially for the qualifying lap.
"Qualifying will be extremely important, although I think that there are several possibilities on the track to overtake."