Spa winner Raikkonen still in title hunt

SPA-FRANCORCHAMPS – Ferrari’s Kimi Raikkonen kept himself in the Formula One title race on Sunday with his third Belgian Grand Prix win in a row.

“We haven’t given up and we are still in the hunt,” said the Finn, now third and 13 points behind McLaren’s leader Lewis Hamilton. “We reduced the gap again.We lost a little bit in the last race but I think anything can happen.”There are still three races to go.Everybody is so close and for sure we’re going to fight hard and sometimes you get it wrong and something can go wrong for all of us.We just keep pushing and see what happens.”If we can do it, it would be amazing but it’s going to be difficult, but we don’t give up.”Ferrari and McLaren have been fighting a see-saw battle, with the last three races ending in one-two finishes — Turkey in August for Ferrari, the Italian Grand Prix at Monza last weekend for McLaren and now Ferrari again on top.”We knew that we were going to be much stronger here than we were in Monza,” said the Finn, who started on pole and led Brazilian team mate Felipe Massa to the chequered flag.”We know the reasons why we cannot challenge on the circuits like Monaco, Monza, Montreal.We try to fix that problem for next year, hopefully we can, and then we should be pretty strong.”This (circuit) is more to do with aerodynamics and our car is strong in that area, so any circuits like this are going to be okay for us.”The next race is in Japan, at the Fuji circuit that is making a reappearance on the calendar for the first time since 1976.”I think it’s going to be a close call between the teams,” said Raikkonen, who was hailed by Ferrari boss Jean Todt as the ‘King of Spa’.”For sure in qualifying we always seem to have a hard time against McLaren.In the races, in some places we can be stronger but overall I think we need to improve first in qualifying.* Meanwhile, Lewis Hamilton learned a lesson on Sunday about just how hard McLaren team mate Fernando Alonso is prepared to fight in defence of his Formula One title.The 22-year-old Briton, who leads Alonso by two points with three races remaining, was unimpressed after being forced off the track by the double world champion at the start of the Belgian Grand Prix.Hamilton questioned the Spaniard’s sense of fair play as well as his loyalty to a team hard hit by a spying controversy, with the loss of all their constructors’ points and a record $100 million fine.Nampa-Reuters”We reduced the gap again.We lost a little bit in the last race but I think anything can happen.”There are still three races to go.Everybody is so close and for sure we’re going to fight hard and sometimes you get it wrong and something can go wrong for all of us.We just keep pushing and see what happens.”If we can do it, it would be amazing but it’s going to be difficult, but we don’t give up.”Ferrari and McLaren have been fighting a see-saw battle, with the last three races ending in one-two finishes — Turkey in August for Ferrari, the Italian Grand Prix at Monza last weekend for McLaren and now Ferrari again on top.”We knew that we were going to be much stronger here than we were in Monza,” said the Finn, who started on pole and led Brazilian team mate Felipe Massa to the chequered flag.”We know the reasons why we cannot challenge on the circuits like Monaco, Monza, Montreal.We try to fix that problem for next year, hopefully we can, and then we should be pretty strong.”This (circuit) is more to do with aerodynamics and our car is strong in that area, so any circuits like this are going to be okay for us.”The next race is in Japan, at the Fuji circuit that is making a reappearance on the calendar for the first time since 1976.”I think it’s going to be a close call between the teams,” said Raikkonen, who was hailed by Ferrari boss Jean Todt as the ‘King of Spa’.”For sure in qualifying we always seem to have a hard time against McLaren.In the races, in some places we can be stronger but overall I think we need to improve first in qualifying.* Meanwhile, Lewis Hamilton learned a lesson on Sunday about just how hard McLaren team mate Fernando Alonso is prepared to fight in defence of his Formula One title.The 22-year-old Briton, who leads Alonso by two points with three races remaining, was unimpressed after being forced off the track by the double world champion at the start of the Belgian Grand Prix.Hamilton questioned the Spaniard’s sense of fair play as well as his loyalty to a team hard hit by a spying controversy, with the loss of all their constructors’ points and a record $100 million fine.Nampa-Reuters