Planet-F1

Kimi: I'm more motivated than ever

Thursday 28th August 2008

Kimi Raikkonen insists he's more motivated than ever to win this year's title after falling to third in the Drivers' standings.

The Finn, who was on course for a points finish in Sunday's Valencia GP, watched his hopes go down in flames when his Ferrari engine blew in spectacular style, covering the track in smoke.

The DNF coupled with team-mate Felipe Massa's victory meant Raikkonen has dropped to third in the standings and now trails Lewis Hamilton, who finished P2, by 13 points.

The Finn, though, is confident he can yet fight to retain the title.

"We knew we had to take a risk for Valencia and we did not finish the race," he told his official website.

"It's a shame, but it's useless to grieve for that. One third of the season is still left and it's enough to fight back.

"If somebody has doubts concerning my motivation, let them doubt. One thing I can say is that right now I am more motivated than ever."

And Raikkonen's hopes to put that motivation to work when the F1 circus heads to Belgium next weekend for the Spa-Francorchamps race.

"Next week we'll go to Spa. I love this track," he told the Ferrari website. "I'd like to race there all the year round. It's the best of the all the track and I hope that I'll have a car that works the way I want. I'll give it all to win again."

The reigning World Champion has gone eight races since last winning a grand prix. His last victory was back in April at Barcelona.