Raikkonen is 22 points behind Alonso despite winning in Canada

McLaren driver Kimi Raikkonen is 22 points behind Renault's Fernando Alonso with 11 races remaining after winning Sunday's Canadian Grand Prix.

Team boss Ron Dennis said: "Our approach is simple. We will not race strategically, we will race to win.

"To win this world championship we have to win a lot more races. We are not going to get into fancy mathematics."

McLaren have had Formula One's fastest car since the San Marino Grand Prix in April, but face a difficult task trying to overhaul the lead Alonso established while McLaren struggled in the first three races.

Raikkonen's last-lap retirement from the lead at the European Grand Prix at the Nurburgring two weeks ago, which handed Alonso victory and a 32-point lead, seemed to have ended Raikkonen's realistic hopes.

It's going to be a really good championship, there's no doubt about it Pat Symonds Renault engineering director

But Alonso made an uncharacteristic error under pressure in Canada, clouting a wall and being forced into retirement with broken suspension.

McLaren managing director Martin Whitmarsh said: "We always said the championship was on and others said it wasn't.

"It certainly can turn around and it will do again and again. It is going to run through the season but I think we have a competitive car, competitive drivers, and we have improvements coming through.

"We know Renault will fight as hard as they can to take this championship, they are doing a good, tidy job, but I think we can be strong and I think we can win in the end."

Renault tried to put a brave face on their double retirement in Canada, which left McLaren only 13 points behind them in the constructors' championship.

"Nothing's changed," said Renault's head of engineering Pat Symonds.

Alonso was forced to retire in Canada after a rare error

"We saw it turn around after Monaco, we saw it turn around again after Nurburgring. It's going to be a really good championship, there's no doubt about it."

Alonso has won four races to Raikkonen's three and the Renault has been more reliable than the McLaren.

But Alonso was gifted two of his victories by Raikkonen's retirements from the lead at the Nurburgring and San Marino races.

We had a bad race in Monaco and we bounced back. And we'll bounce back at Indy (this weekend). I think Indy will be another good circuit for us," Symonds said.

"We're confident. The biggest problem to be honest with a result like this, other than the result itself, is that we're out second and third in qualifying in Indy and that's the hard thing."

Drivers do their single qualifying laps in reverse order from the finishing positions of the previous race.

Going out early is a penalty because the track is dirtier and therefore slower.