Raikkonen vows to keep on fighting

The Ferrari driver had to start the Monte Carlo race from 16th position after a driving error meant he missed the cut to go into the final qualifying session.

From his low position, the Finn was unable to make much progress due to the traffic, and he had to settle for eighth place at the end of the day.

The result meant Raikkonen, who had retired from the previous race in Spain, is now 15 points behind championship leaders Fernando Alonso and Lewis Hamilton.

But, with 12 races left, the Ferrari driver is not ready to give up.

"We knew we were facing an uphill battle and that's how things turned out," said Raikkonen. "I got a good start, quickly moving up to twelfth, but from then on I was nearly always in traffic, never getting any chance to overtake.

"I never had a clear track ahead of me and it was only thanks to the strategy that I was able to make up some more places and get into the points, but I couldn't do any better.

"Obviously the situation in the classification is now a bit more complicated but there is still a long way to go in the championship and I am not the sort to give up."