F1
Laurence Edmondson, F1 Editor 12d

Kimi Raikkonen willing to help Sebastian Vettel in title fight

Fantasy Autos

Kimi Raikkonen is willing to help Sebastian Vettel's bid for the 2015 drivers' championship if his Ferrari team-mate can get himself into a position to have a realistic shot at the title in the remaining six races.

Vettel's victory in Singapore saw him close the gap to Mercedes' Lewis Hamilton to 49 points in the drivers' standings and move just eight points behind Nico Rosberg in second. After struggling for pace in Singapore, Mercedes is expecting to be back at the front this weekend, but Raikkonen said he would be willing to help Vettel if a suitable situation arises.

"Obviously we hope to have a good end for the championship for both of us, but obviously I'm not really in the championship [fight], so if it comes to that I have no issues with it, I've done it before," Raikkonen said. "We're here to fight for Ferrari, so who knows. It's not going to be an easy job.

"We'll see first how the Ferrari performs - we wouldn't expect Mercedes to be struggling like they were at the last race, not been on that pace all year, so we expect them to be more like they've been until the last weekend. Who knows, we'll go out and do our best and hopefully be up there giving ourselves good chances."

Raikkonen is still hopeful he can score his first victory since returning to Ferrari before the end of the season.

"Hopefully we can win, but that's the aim always. I wouldn't be here if I didn't believe that. It hadn't been an ideal year, but there's good things and obviously we have to clear up some things from our side to ensure we get results in the end. If it happens this year then it happens, if not we try next year again but obviously the aim is to be first."

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