Finn Kimi Raikkonen on Thursday ruled out the prospect of a 2007-style late-season surge to title-winning glory for him and his Lotus team.
He said this season’s four-race finale – starting with this weekend’s Indian Grand Prix – offered an entirely-different proposition to five years ago when he won the last two races and stole the title for Ferrari.
He added that he was not ruling out a repeat but said he was being realistic about his hopes and dreams.
Raikkonen, who leapfrogged Fernando Alonso and Lewis Hamilton to take the title in 2007, said: “Of course, we have a chance still, but it is a different life to 2007.
“Then, we had a car we knew we could win all the races and, right now, we are not the fastest car so we need more help to really win it.
“But we will keep trying and hopefully we can achieve it. We try until there is no chance, but it is a different situation.
“If we can improve in the next few races, then we will see what happens …”
His Lotus team have made a big push with new upgraded parts for their cars this weekend and Raikkonen and under-fire teammate Frenchman Romain Grosjean will run with upgraded exhausts and front wings.