Raikkonen hopes Brazil win brings title

Raikkonen took his fifth win of the season in China and, thanks to Lewis Hamilton's retirement, the Finn is now seven points behind the Briton in the championship with just one race to go.

The Ferrari driver is also three points behind Fernando Alonso.

The gap to Hamilton means that if Raikkonen wins in Brazil, the Briton only needs to finish in fifth place to clinch the title.

Raikkonen admitted his chances are still minimal, but has vowed to go for victory again in Interlagos.

"I am very happy. It is a really great result for me and the whole team, who done a truly excellent job," said Raikkonen. who gave Ferrari their 200th victory in Formula One.

"We needed this win and we got it. At the start of the race, I had a lot of understeer but then the situation improved. I was one of the last to switch to dry tyres but this was a help as after a little while the rain began to fall again.

"Even after the second stop I had a bit of understeer, but as before, the situation improved in the final stages. I knew Alonso was very quick but I was in full control of the situation. The car overall was working well both in the wet and in the dry. Last week in Fuji, we were unlucky but today things went right for us.

"We have had yet another example that in this sport anything can happen. The situation in the drivers' classification is still difficult, but I will try everything to win in Brazil, even if the final outcome does not just depend on what we do.

"It should be a great battle, very hard to predict and interesting."

Teammate Felipe Massa had to settle for third place, although the Brazilian admitted he was hoping to fight for victory.

"I had hoped to be fighting for the win, but the race was affected by the changing weather conditions," said Massa. "At the moment I switched to dry tyres, the timing was not ideal. The rain came back immediately and it was really difficult to stay on track.

"In any case, in these instances, it can pay off to take risks: sometimes it works out and sometimes not. After a few difficulties with graining, the situation to the extent that, in the final part of the race, I was going very well.

"All in all, finishing on the podium in a race like this is very important and I am very happy for the team. There is one race to go: anything can happen and we must continue to work to stay ahead of our rivals."