Kimi Raikkonen in tune to make a splash at Spa

AS Kimi Raikkonen prepares for the Belgian Grand Prix, he remains convinced he's still a genuine contender for the world title.

AS Kimi Raikkonen prepares for this weekend's Belgian Grand Prix, he remains convinced he's still a genuine contender for the Formula One world title.

Despite not having won a race for Lotus this year, the Finn has finished on the podium five times and sits fifth in the rankings, 49 points behind Ferrari's title-race leader Fernando Alonso.

In addition, the 32-year-old finished just a second behind Hungarian GP winner Lewis Hamilton (McLaren) last time out, and with four Belgian GP wins under his belt is considered by many as the favourite to win at Spa tomorrow.

"I have almost as good a chance as anybody else," Raikkonen said. "I don't see that I have any better chance . . . but apart from Alonso, the rest are pretty close to each other and there are also many points to be won."

Raikkonen played down the significance of his record at the high-speed Spa circuit but underlined the importance of driving consistently over the remaining nine races.

"It's not any more special than other places," he said. "It's a nice race circuit and usually it produces nice racing but I know this circuit as well as any other circuits, I haven't really raced here more than any others.

"It just has been pretty good for us, but I have had some bad races also. It's not like I come here and suddenly I should be good. It can be a disaster.

"Nobody knows what will happen between now and the end of the year -- there are many points still on the table and any of us only needs to have a bad race and it's going to drop you out of a few positions.

"There are nine races left and after these back-to-backs (at Spa and Monza), there are still seven, so there are a lot of points to lose easily if you have some problems."

AFP