Alonso points finger at Ralf Schumacher
(China Daily)
Updated: 2005-08-02 06:37

Finn back on track

Meanwhile Kimi Raikkonen said on Sunday that his championship challenge is back on after he claimed his fourth win of the year at the Hungarian Grand Prix in Budapest.

McLaren star Raikkonen reluctantly accepted that his championship challenge was over at the start of this weekend having seen leader Fernando Alonso extend his advantage to 36 points at the previous race in Germany.

But a dominant victory with Alonso finishing 11th after being taken out the equation by a first lap collision has changed his mind and he is now fired up to overhaul his rival in the final six races.

"The chances now are much better than before the start of this race," said Raikkonen.

"We are going to do the best we can and hopefully we can close the gap in the next two races then push as hard as we can to catch them."

Raikkonen has been struck down by mechanical failures in the last few races, but this time he saw fortune turn against team mate Juan Pablo Montoya when his McLaren failed to reach the finish.

Driveshaft failure caused the Colombian to coast to a halt, a problem that cost Raikkonen a win in San Marino. The Finn was disappointed that the team failed to secure a first and second place finish.

Despite having the fastest car on the grid, their reliability problems have prevented them from securing any one-two wins this season and they have cost Raikkonen four almost certain wins.

The Finn admitted his battle with Alonso is "going backwards and forwards" because he has often lost 10 points to his rival through a car failure, and then the points are gained back at the next race.

Team boss Ron Dennis described the team's performances as "dominant and disciplined" and committed to Raikkonen's title challenge when he said: "We will continue as before to attempt to win every race."

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