Alonso plans to leave Raikkonen in his slipstream

FERNANDO ALONSO needs just four points more than rival Kimi Raikkonen in this weekend’s Belgian Grand Prix to end world champion Michael Schumacher’s reign at the pinnacle of Formula One.

Alonso closed on the title in Italy last weekend when he extended his lead over Raikkonen to 27 points, leaving Schumacher out of the running and putting himself tantalisingly close to becoming the sport’s youngest ever champion.

But the 24-year-old Spaniard, who has won six times so far this year, is still taking it one race at a time.

“I will be going to Belgium aiming to win and we will see how the weekend develops from there,” he said.

“Spa is a circuit with good memories for me, I won my first F3000 race there in 2000, and even last year I was in the lead when I retired.

“People will talk about winning the championship there and I will try to do it if I can, but it doesn’t matter to me. There are four races left and any of them are good for it.”

Alonso acknowledges McLaren’s Finnish rival Raikkonen has the better car and has done since the fourth race of the season but the Renault driver is making the most of his consistent scoring to ease his way to the title.

He won three from four races at the start of the season and the gap has proved difficult for Raikkonen to close, the Finn being hit by endless mechanical problems that have hampered his challenge.

The Italian Grand Prix saw Raikkonen suffer his third pre-race engine failure of the season and start 11th on the grid and then his progress in the race was hampered by a tyre failure and a spin that left him down in fourth.

Alonso finished second to extend his lead by three points but Raikkonen refuses to give up.

“The drivers’ championship is still a real challenge but there is no guessing what will happen and nothing is over yet,” he said.

“There are still four races to be won this season and forty points up for grabs, so I will fight hard with the team to secure maximum points on every weekend.”

With Raikkonen fired up for victory and his Colombian team-mate Juan Pablo Montoya’s win in Monza proving the car has the pace to win, Alonso knows he must continue to finish races to avoid a late-season struggle.

But he admitted new regulations introduced this season, which demand engines last two races, could cause Renault a problem and said he will be limiting practice to make sure he reaches the end of the race.

“It is a very hard track for the engines and after using the engine in Monza we will have to keep it safe in practice so that we are still in a strong position on Sunday,” said Alonso.

Raikkonen won here last year and he will be favourite again this time around with Montoya backing him up as McLaren try to close an eight-point gap on Renault in the fight for the constructors’ crown.