Raikkonen deserved to win, say Ferrari

Ferrari commiserated with their Formula One world champion Kimi Raikkonen after a Belgian Grand Prix that left his title hopes looking slimmer than ever.

The Finn spun and crashed out on the penultimate lap while fighting McLaren's championship leader Lewis Hamilton for the lead on a wet track.

Hamilton was later punished by stewards, who stripped the Briton of victory for cutting the chicane and gaining an advantage. The demotion to third place, with Ferrari's Felipe Massa taking the win, left Hamilton on 76 points with the Brazilian on 74. Raikkonen, without a win since April, slipped to fourth overall on 57.

"We are very disappointed for Kimi, who had driven a great race and deserved the win, especially at this rather difficult time," said Ferrari team boss Stefano Domenicali.

The Finn had won the previous three Belgian Grands Prix at his favourite circuit and had led from the second lap until rain fell in the closing minutes.

"I came here to win and I came close," he said. "In the final laps the track conditions were very critical and unfortunately I ran wide.

"The arrival of the rain definitely didn't help. In these conditions, if you are in front you have to be more cautious as you don't know how much grip you'll find in each braking area.

"That's how Hamilton managed to close on me and then happened what you all saw. It's the second race in a row that I've failed to score points."

With only five races remaining, Raikkonen could soon find himself having to support Massa's title challenge.

However, neither Massa nor Hamilton were prepared to count out the Finn, who won the title last year despite then being 17 points adrift of the McLaren driver with two races remaining.

"Anything can happen," said Hamilton.

"He's got a lot of work to do, the pressure's on him to try and catch us up.

"I think Felipe's doing a better job than him in his team and we've just got to continue to try and do a better job."