Raikkonen won't give up on championship

Kimi Raikkonen might have seen the gap with Alonso and Hamilton increase in the Formula 1 championship standings but the Ferrari driver has said there is still time to close the gap and fight right to the end for the championship title.

In Saturday's qualifying Kimi Raikkonen touched the barrier with his front right wheel. It wasn't a hard knock, but it was enough to snap his steering arm and bend his lower suspension. The team was unable to fix the damage and thus Raikkonen got stuck in 16th position for Sunday's Grand Prix. In the narrow streets in Monte Carlo 16th is almost an impossible position to move you up the field and fight for a race win. Raikkonen was left frustrated behind cars that were slower, but unable to overtake. "It's annoying to be always stuck behind a slower car and not be able to do anything to improve the situation. At least I managed to bring home a point, which is at least better than nothing," he said about his race.

Despite the difficulties of the last two weekends, Raikkonen remains optimistic for the rest of the season. "Obviously the increased gap to the head of the classification makes life more difficult, but this is still the first part of the championship," the Finn said. "I will give it my all to close the gap and will fight right to the end. There are four drivers who, barring any unexpected surprises, have an equal chance of winning a Grand Prix. This situation can help me close up a bit, on the understanding that I start winning again.

"In Monaco, we knew McLaren would be strong, but we also knew we had a strong pace and it would have been nice to see that in a straight fight. I hope everything will finally start going my way right from the next race."

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