Raikkonen: Retirement

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World Champion Kimi Raikkonen has insisted he is still a title contender despite another below-par performance at the European Grand Prix in Valencia.

Running fifth in the race, the Ferrari driver suffered a bungled pit stop - in which a mechanic was injured - before his race finally ended with an engine failure on lap 46.

Raikkonen's failure to finish, coupled with victory for team-mate Felipe Massa and second place for Championship leader Lewis Hamilton, means that the Finn now stands 13 points behind the latter with six races remaining.

However, mindful of the 17-point deficit to Hamilton he overcame in the final two races of last season to take the title, Raikkonen remains convinced that there is plenty still to play for.

"I am sure I can still improve my qualifying and my results," he said. "There is still a long way to go so let's wait and see what happens."

Ahead of the weekend, Raikkonen said he needed to improve his performance in practice and qualifying. However, he started only fourth in Sunday's race while Massa won from pole position.

"I think I can do better than that so I am trying to improve," he said.

Drama

Raikkonen's pit stop drama came during his second visit and saw him pulling away too early with Ferrari's fuel rig still attached.

He blamed himself for the incident, in which a refuelling mechanic was run over and subsequently taken to hospital having suffered a foot injury and back pains.

"There is not much to say," Raikkonen said. "I left (the pits) a bit too early. It was my fault and unfortunately I ran over the guy who was refuelling. We need to look and see what really happened."

Two laps later, and having lost fifth place to Toyota's Jarno Trulli, the Ferrari's engine blew up on the main straight in a cloud of billowing smoke.

"Sure, it was not a good day, but these things happen in racing. I am not too worried. I still think I can come back this season," Raikkonen said.

Nevertheless, Raikkonen, whose last victory came in the Spanish Grand Prix at the end of April, has scored just 22 points in his last seven races.

"It was not a great weekend, but it is not the first time. We are in a bit of a worse situation in the championship, but if we get all the things sorted then I think we still have a chance to come back," he added.

"We know what the issues have been, but unfortunately we haven't been able to sort them out. Hopefully now in the next test we can work a bit and try to find the solution for it. If we get the qualifying right it will help a lot."

Ferrari team chief Stefano Domenicali said: "We still have faith in him, of course. He is a world champion and we are a loyal team."

Domenicali blamed the pit-stop error on a problem with the team's lights system used at pit stops.

He said the team would investigate the engine failure but suspected it could be a similar component problem to the one that sidelined Massa in Hungary.