Kimi Raikkonen has been talking about his chances of success in this coming weekend's European GP at the Nurburgring. It's a pretty standard driver's interview, mentioning his previous bad luck at the circuit but hopeful of a change in fortune from now on.
Kimi Raikkonen
There is one thing different about it, however; it is rather more chatty than we are used to from Kimi. In fact, he probably says more than he has in all the season so far. Is this the first sign of a return on Ferrari's promise before he joined the team that we would see a more open Kimi this year?
If so, it is probably also a reflection of Raikkonen's apparent breakthrough in getting to grips with his car. In the last two races he has seemed much more confident and at ease, the resulting victories adding to that impression. It may be that we have seen the turning point in his season and that his real challenge for the championship began at Magny Cours.
Can he be champion this year? It is mathematically possible, of course, but there remains a considerable points gap for him to make up - 16 to be exact. All it will need is some bad luck for the leader, Lewis Hamilton, and that lead will evaporate, however. Hamilton is the only one of the four contenders not to have suffered problems so far and it is not impossible that his bad fortune awaits him in the second half of the year.
Even without the interference of luck, I think Kimi's chances are good. Just as the Finn seems to have gained the upper hand in his struggle with his team mate, so has Alonso. If the world champion starts to beat Hamilton with regularity from now on, he will close his own points gap to the leader and become the main target for the others in the last few races. So Kimi really needs to be finishing ahead of Fernando and the recent form of the Ferrari would indicate that this is quite possible.
The message is clear, therefore: don't write off Raikkonen. If he were competing against anyone other than Alonso, I would probably bet on the Finn myself. But Fernando makes the task a little bit more difficult - he's done it before, you see.
There is something about winning championships that becomes habit-forming. And Alonso is the only one of the four contenders to have experienced that. Maybe it's luck or an extra helping of determination but the Spaniard has twice demonstrated that he can cope with close battles in the run-in to the championship and I expect this to make a difference in the forthcoming races.
Much depends on any decisions made at next week's FIA hearing on the Ferrari documents matter, of course; if McLaren are docked points, all bets are off. But ignoring that, I would say that Alonso is still the most likely to claim this year's championship.
Kimi Raikkonen
There is one thing different about it, however; it is rather more chatty than we are used to from Kimi. In fact, he probably says more than he has in all the season so far. Is this the first sign of a return on Ferrari's promise before he joined the team that we would see a more open Kimi this year?
If so, it is probably also a reflection of Raikkonen's apparent breakthrough in getting to grips with his car. In the last two races he has seemed much more confident and at ease, the resulting victories adding to that impression. It may be that we have seen the turning point in his season and that his real challenge for the championship began at Magny Cours.
Can he be champion this year? It is mathematically possible, of course, but there remains a considerable points gap for him to make up - 16 to be exact. All it will need is some bad luck for the leader, Lewis Hamilton, and that lead will evaporate, however. Hamilton is the only one of the four contenders not to have suffered problems so far and it is not impossible that his bad fortune awaits him in the second half of the year.
Even without the interference of luck, I think Kimi's chances are good. Just as the Finn seems to have gained the upper hand in his struggle with his team mate, so has Alonso. If the world champion starts to beat Hamilton with regularity from now on, he will close his own points gap to the leader and become the main target for the others in the last few races. So Kimi really needs to be finishing ahead of Fernando and the recent form of the Ferrari would indicate that this is quite possible.
The message is clear, therefore: don't write off Raikkonen. If he were competing against anyone other than Alonso, I would probably bet on the Finn myself. But Fernando makes the task a little bit more difficult - he's done it before, you see.
There is something about winning championships that becomes habit-forming. And Alonso is the only one of the four contenders to have experienced that. Maybe it's luck or an extra helping of determination but the Spaniard has twice demonstrated that he can cope with close battles in the run-in to the championship and I expect this to make a difference in the forthcoming races.
Much depends on any decisions made at next week's FIA hearing on the Ferrari documents matter, of course; if McLaren are docked points, all bets are off. But ignoring that, I would say that Alonso is still the most likely to claim this year's championship.