More rain may help Raikkonen

Kimi Raikkonen is hoping a little more rain falls on Monza tomorrow following an Italian Grand Prix qualifying session that left him bitterly unhappy.

The reigning world champion is 14th on the grid, one place ahead of current leader Lewis Hamilton in his McLaren as rain played havoc.

Raikkonen’s Ferrari team-mate Felipe Massa starts sixth behind the surprise of the afternoon in Toro Rosso’s Sebastian Vettel, who at 21 years 73 days became the youngest driver in Formula One history to take pole.

Raikkonen, currently 19 points adrift of Hamilton, is currently in the last-chance saloon as far as his hopes of back-to-back titles are concerned.

The Finn initially offered a shrug of the shoulders when asked if his championship chances would be wrecked if he failed to score a point tomorrow.

Following his worst qualifying performance since the season-opening race in Australia, a downbeat Raikkonen said: “There’s little to say, but I am definitely not happy with this result.

“We must now try and make the best of this situation, which is not ideal.

“Starting from the seventh row of the grid could be a bit tricky at the start because the entry to the first chicane is very tight and it is easy to touch other cars.

“In the dry, the car is working very well but obviously if it were to rain, it could give a chance to those who are starting further back like me.”

Massa, two points off Hamilton pending an appeal into last week’s controversy in the Belgian Grand Prix at Spa, declared himself “reasonably happy.”

That is clearly with good reason given the positions of Raikkonen and Hamilton, affording him the opportunity to reclaim the lead in the title fight.

“That was a very difficult qualifying which could have been better, but it could also have been much worse,” reflected the Brazilian.

“I am ahead of my main rivals in the fight for the championship, and I still have a good grid position.

“Now I must simply try and finish as high up the order as possible and get some points.

“It will be a very tough race, but we can rely on a competitive car.”