Raikkonen endured another uncomfortable day behind the wheel of his Ferrari on Friday as he slid off the Spa track during second practice for Sunday's Belgian Grand Prix, and - after eight races without a win - he is now 13 points adrift of Hamilton in the championship standings and seven behind team-mate Felipe Massa.

Yet Hamilton said: "He has his work cut out to catch us up, and Felipe is the closest target for me at the moment. But there are six races remaining and a lot of points available, so I don't think it's over for Kimi."

One man who knows Raikkonen will not be throwing in the towel is McLaren boss Ron Dennis, who employed him for five years prior to his departure to Ferrari.

"Kimi is a fierce competitor, a highly-talented racing driver and I wouldn't levy any criticism at him at all," Dennis said.

"The bottom line is drivers have good and bad races, and I'm sure he will forget his one in Valencia. He is more than capable of winning, so I wouldn't discount him at this stage.

"With only six races to go, I wouldn't want to make any predictions about him. That's the worst thing we could do."