Formula One news

Di Montezemolo backs Raikkonen to recover

Having extended reigning champion Kimi Raikkonen's contract at Ferrari to the end of the 2010 season, team president Luca di Montezemolo has backed the Finn to recover from his difficult season.

"I know some people disagreed when we extended his contract, but we're talking about the reigning champion, who won in his first year at Ferrari," di Montezemolo told the Gazetta dello Sport newspaper.

"Kimi is like those great forwards in football who don't score for a while, but since they're good, sooner or later they find their way to the goal again, which is a good thing for their teams and themselves," he added.

Raikkonen has fallen 21 points behind Hamilton in the championship and will now almost certainly have to play a number two role to team mate Felipe Massa, who is just one point behind Hamilton.

"Felipe and Kimi know very well what they have to do for the rest of the season because they both race for Ferrari and it's always been clear - we all work for the team," he added.

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