Raikkonen Vows to Go Flat Out to Stay in Title Hunt

McLaren's Kimi Raikkonen says he will be going flat out at Indianapolis this weekend to keep his Formula One title hopes alive to the end of the season.

"The characteristics of the MP4-17D (car) will be more suited to the track than Monza and we should perform better there," the Finn, fourth in Italy, said in a team preview on Monday. "I need to get a good result as we are now at such a crucial stage of the Championship and I will be driving flat out to achieve this."

Raikkonen, 23, still has a chance of becoming Formula One's youngest champion but he needs to beat Ferrari's Michael Schumacher and the Williams of Colombian Juan Pablo Montoya in Sunday's US Grand Prix.

Schumacher, chasing a record sixth title, is three points clear of Montoya and seven ahead of Raikkonen with only the Japanese Grand Prix remaining after the weekend. McLaren won the US Grand Prix in 2001 with Raikkonen's compatriot Mika Hakkinen taking the last victory of his career before retirement.