Raikkonen admits concerns

Reigning world champion Kimi Raikkonen fears his bid for back-to-back drivers’ titles is hanging in the balance.

Raikkonen’s Ferrari suffered a blown engine 11 laps from the finish of Sunday’s European Grand Prix to extend his woeful winless run to eight races.

It leaves the Finn trailing McLaren’s Lewis Hamilton by 13 points, whilst he is seven behind team-mate Felipe Massa, who grabbed his fourth win of the season around Valencia’s marina circuit.

Raikkonen knows he has to start winning again soon, otherwise he can kiss goodbye to his double dream.

“It was definitely not the weekend I was hoping for,” reflected Raikkonen, who was also out-qualified by Massa for the eighth time in 12 races.

“But I do not believe, despite this negative result, I am now out of the running for the title. There are still six races to go and 60 points up for grabs.

“We have seen that the situation can change really quickly, even if I realise things are now more complicated.

“There is no doubt it won’t be easy. We need to see what we can do in the next race (the Belgian Grand Prix), but we need to start wining again – otherwise there is no chance.”

To compound Raikkonen’s misery, he fractured the foot of mechanic Pietro Timpini after running over him as he pulled away too early from his second pit stop.

“I made a mistake and left before I should have done,” lamented Raikkonen.

“Fortunately, Pietro is not too badly hurt. I wish him all the best and hope he gets better soon. But in any case, it would not have changed anything as then the engine broke.”

That is a pressing concern for Raikkonen and Massa, after the latter suffered heartbreak in the Hungarian Grand Prix in Budapest three weeks ago when his engine blew three laps from home when he should have won.

Raikkonen added: “I don’t know what happened.

“But we need to investigate what was wrong with the engine. Maybe it is similar to what happened with Felipe in the last race.”

Reliability is a concern for Massa and his title prospects as the Brazilian said: “We need to look at what happened as I have no idea why Kimi blew an engine.

“We are working to fix the reliability as it has been an issue for us this year, especially the first race (Australia), last race and this race.

“We need to work very hard, with everybody concentrating to solve every problem we have.”

Massa’s victory was as easy as it should have been in Hungary, with just one moment of worry when he was investigated by the stewards after the race for an ’unsafe release’ at the end of his second pit stop.

The punishment was a €10,000 fine and a reprimand, but it failed to take the gloss off a performance that saw him take the fastest lap to add to his pole and win.

“It’s amazing,” reflected a delighted Massa.

“After such a disaster in Hungary, we’ve come here to a great track and done a fantastic job, although not 100% because of what happened with Kimi.

“But to take pole, win the race and get fastest lap, you can’t ask for any more. I’m so glad and happy. It was perfect.”