Raikkonen 'sad' about recent poor form

The Finn's title challenge has been derailed after failing to score points in the past four races, and he has expressed some frustration about the lack of return for his and the team's efforts after crashing out in Singapore.

"It's difficult to find the right words: racing at night or during the day, this is definitely not my year," he told Ferrari's official website on Thursday. "I hit the wall (in Singapore) when there were just a couple of laps left. True, I wasn't racing for the win, but for some very important points for the team; and then it ended like at Spa, with another DNF.

"It seems as if the more we try to improve the situation the less we get in the end. At this point I can just hope for a weekend where everything goes in the right direction.

"Once again we had the right speed at Singapore, but not when it was really necessary. The fastest race laps aren't worth anything, if you don't combine them with the situation when they really count.

"Obviously I'm really sad about this situation. I can't explain this dark period and there's nothing I can do to change what happened. We have to look ahead, to the last three races. "

Raikkonen will play a supporting role to teammate Felipe Massa in the final three races of the season, and sees no reason why Ferrari cannot be up there at the front of the grid.

"I'm very sorry for the team, because they've done some great work to improve the F2008. It hurts losing these points. But we know that we've got what it takes to fight for victory in the last three grands prix. Let's hope that I'll finally have a smooth weekend, from Friday to Sunday evening."