Raikkonen not worried about title chances

The Finn was in third place when an electrical failure took him out of the race after nine laps. Having shared the points lead going into the weekend, he is now eight points adrift of Lewis Hamilton.

"There are still thirteen races to go and I am only eight points down on the leader," Raikkonen said.

"Of course I would like to be at the top of the classification but as I have often said, there is still no reason to worry about it yet. The true effect of this retirement will only be known at the end of the season.

"I am not the type to go over what has happened and I'm not about to start now. This is part of racing and it's impossible to change what has happened.

"Retiring from a race is the worst part of our sport and it makes you feel the worst. Points have been lost and there's no going back."

He added that he had sought permission from the team before leaving the racetrack early.

"I asked the team if I could go quickly and I'm pleased they saw that giving me permission was the right thing to do," said Raikkonen.

"I arrived home in Wollerau in time to see the final stages of the ice hockey world championship final, but Finland lost to Canada. Obviously, this just wasn't a good day."

Raikkonen believes Ferrari would have had a one-two finish if he had continued.
 
"I was third and, with the strategy we had chosen, I think I could have had a good race," he said.

"It is difficult following someone, but I think I could have passed Hamilton in the run of pit stops, but we will never know now how it might have finished up."