Kimi admits title hopes now dashed

(GMM) Reigning world champion Kimi Raikkonen on Sunday admitted that his hopes of defending the title in 2008 are now over.

The Finn on Sunday recorded yet another failure to score points, crashing out of fifth place after clipping the Singapore street circuit's now notorious turn 10 curbs.

"My situation in the championship was already rather compromised, so this doesn't really make that much difference," Raikkonen, 28, said.

The DNF means he is now 27 points behind McLaren driver Lewis Hamilton's championship lead with three races to go.

Mathematically, Raikkonen's title chance is not quite dashed, but he told reporters in Singapore that he is "out of the championship" now.

"It was a pretty small chance (before the race) anyhow," he added.