Kimi Raikkonen can revive his flagging Formula One title hopes this weekend with a flat-out 'pedal to the metal' performance at his favorite Spa-Francorchamps circuit. The fast and flowing Belgian Grand Prix circuit has favored the Finn more than any driver in recent years and Ferrari's world champion desperately needs to conjure up some of his old magic on Sunday. Raikkonen has won the last three Grands Prix at the 7km Ardennes track, a run dating back to 2004 with McLaren, and another victory would show he is still very much a contender. "This is the one that I've been waiting for," Raikkonen said on his website. The weekend of Spa is always a certain highlight of the season for me. You cannot get the same kind of 'pedal to the metal' feeling anywhere else," he said. Without a win since the end of April, and with teammate Felipe Massa seven points clear of him with six races remaining, Raikkonen knows that it is otherwise a matter of time before Ferrari declare his title defense over and order him to help the Brazilian. Raikkonen scored 29 points from his first four races of the season but has taken just 28 from his last eight starts amid increasing speculation about his motivation. Massa, who drew a blank in his first two races, has come on strongly and is now just six points behind McLaren's championship leader Lewis Hamilton. He won the last race in Valencia while Raikkonen retired with a blown engine. Ferrari team boss Stefano Domenicali made clear last week that there would come a point when a decision had to be made. "Kimi will help Felipe if necessary," he told the Gazzetta dello Sport. "We talked about it at the start of the year. But before that happens, let's see how things develop." - Reuters __
