Ferrari Show Faith in Raikkonen With Contract Extension to Leave Alonso in Limbo

It was difficult to judge which was the most surprising. The fact that Monza was lashed by torrential rain and thunderstorms yesterday morning during the first free practice session or the news that Kimi Raikkonen has signed a contract extending his stay with the Ferrari team at least until the end of 2010.

The Finn, who was at the centre of last Sunday's controversial Belgian grand prix incident which saw Lewis Hamilton demoted from first to third place after being found guilty of gaining an unfair advantage by overtaking Raikkonen in the closing stages of the race, had seemed mired in a disappointing rut after a succession of poor race results over the past couple of months. Yet the Ferrari president Luca di Montezemolo said recently that he expected that Raikkonen would soon recapture last season's form. "All this criticism [of Raikkonen] reminds me of when [Filippo] Inzaghi was at Juventus," he said. "If he didn't score for three games, everyone would say he was in crisis," said Di Montezemolo. The news seems to end any prospect of Fernando Alonso joining the Ferrari team in the foreseeable future as Raikkonen's team-mate Felipe Massa also has a firm contract in place lasting to the end of 2010. This will be a blow for the Spaniard who might now find a berth in either the Honda or BMW Sauber teams after marking time this season driving for Renault after falling out with McLaren.

Although the track surface steadily dried out prior to yesterday afternoon's second free practice session here, the weather forecast for today's qualifying session and tomorrow's race is for consistent heavy rain on a circuit where Hamilton believes his McLaren can exert the upper hand over the Ferraris. For his part Raikkonen set the fastest time at the end of yesterday's second session.

McLaren's appeal against Hamilton's 25-second penalty is to be heard on September 22. The governing body's International Court of Appeal will meet in Paris, with a decision expected to be made public the following day. Doubts remain about whether McLaren are allowed to appeal and the FIA will decide at the hearing whether it is admissible.

Hamilton, meanwhile, maintains he will not alter his attacking philosophy. "I'm not going to change my approach," he said. "I'm a racer, and it is how I grew up, fighting my way from the back of the grid. If we don't overtake, people won't watch. It won't be a race, it will be a train."