Ferrari to inspect Raikkonen's engine

Ferrari are to take a close look at Kimi Raikkonen's engine at the Malaysian Grand Prix to see if it needs to be changed following the minor problems he had in the closing stages of the Australia race

Raikkonen dominated at Albert Park two weeks ago, but was instructed to slow down in the closing stages because of issues the team had picked up on their telemetry.

Ferrari's engine chief Gilles Simon said: "We had a small water leakage so the pressure dropped a little. And we were concerned about water temperature of course. That is why we asked him to be careful."

With engines needing to last two-race weekends, those small problems will be a concern for Malaysia - where high temperatures and long straights put extra stress on the power units.

Should the team feel that Raikkonen's engine may not last the full race distance then they may opt to change it prior to qualifying. This would hand the world championship leader a ten-place grid penalty.

A Ferrari spokesman told autosport.com that nothing had been decided yet.

"We will take a decision next week at the race weekend, having carefully monitored the situation," he said.

Felipe Massa had an engine change before the race in Australia as a precaution following the gearbox problem he had in qualifying.