Kimi Raikkonen has not enjoyed the best of years as the world champion and the 2008 championship and arguably his season could be at a crossroads this weekend. The Ferrari driver snatched the title in Brazil last October after Lewis Hamilton and McLaren made a mess of the final two races, and after being the dominant force in the final third of that season many expected him to maintain that form into 2008.
But it just has not really happened. The omens were initially good as wins in Malaysia and Spain propelled him to the top of the standings. But since Barcelona in April he has not won a race. He has suffered some misfortune along the way - an exhaust problem denied him victory in France - but largely he has flattered to deceive. He is being consistently outpaced by his Brazilian teammate Felipe Massa, who has won four races this season. Ferrari have surprisingly struggled on occasions this year, and despite having a marginally inferior car Hamilton and McLaren-Mercedes have been able to take charge of the season.
But when Ferrari have been the pacesetters it has been Massa who has led the way, with Raikkonen dawdling in the midfield. That is actually being a little unfair on the Finn, as he has shown some fast pace in recent races. But generally it has been too little, too late, as poor qualifying performances have left behind slower cars in the early stages. In the last three races Raikkonen has qualified sixth, sixth and fourth. Massa in the same races has qualified second, third and first. Massa has challenged for victory in all those races, while Raikkonen has been out of touch with the front runners by the time he has got clear of slower traffic.
Raikkonen not being great in qualifying is not a new revelation - last season he started on the front row only five times. But crucially the performance advantage of Ferrari and McLaren to the rest of the pack is smaller in 2008 and thus rather than starting third or fourth, which was his regular starting point a year ago, now he is on the third or even the fourth row. Despite having gone eight races without a win, Raikkonen is still in the hunt. He is only seven points behind Massa and 13 behind the points leader Hamilton.
But with only six races left of the season time is running out for Raikkonen to launch a charge. It is essentially Hamilton v Ferrari and very soon the Italian team will have to choose which driver to back to challenge as they will not want their drivers to be taking points off each other in what is likely to be a tight end to the campaign. At the start of the season the thought of the defending champion being asked to play second fiddle would have been unimaginable. But Massa has been terrific of late, and unless he starts winning on Sunday in Belgium, the scenario Raikkonen dreads most could become a reality.
In the past Raikkonen has been majestic in Spa having won the last three races held there. He dominated last year's race, claimed the 2005 event, and drove superbly in 2004 to defeat Michael Schumacher. So on past form if Raikkonen can't shine here then he can't shine anywhere. If he does finish behind Massa on Sunday then that will surely be the death knell of his hopes of retaining his championship.
And with rumours that Fernando Alonso and Robert Kubica are being looked at by Ferrari for 2010, Raikkonen does need to remind his bosses what exactly he is capable of. Every great champion produces a performance once in a while to demonstrate just why they are in the top echelon of their sport - Raikkonen needs to do that on Sunday. @Email:gcaygill@thenational.ae