Mosley remains concerned over Raikkonen

Max Mosley, the president of motorsport's governing body, the FIA, has expressed his concerns over the decision to grant young Finn Kimi Raikkonen a super licence to compete in Formula 1 next year

At a meeting of the Formula 1 commission - the decision-making body which comprises members of F1 teams, F1 sponsors and FIA representatives - two weeks ago, Mosley was outvoted by 24-1 in favour of allowing 20-year-old Raikkonen to take up a race seat with Sauber in 2001.

"Unfortunately the F1 commission doesn't always do as I tell them, despite speculation to the contrary," Mosley told Speedvision. "I do not believe that they adopted a defensible position in giving an inexperienced driver like Raikkonen a licence. It is quite wrong given that we have strict criteria for graduation into F1.

"When there is a major accident caused by the presence of very inexperienced drivers in F1, I'm the one who will have to explain it to the world's media and television cameras."

Raikkonen dominated this year's British Formula Renault championship, but has competed in just 23 car races. By moving to F1 next year, the young Finn has leapfrogged the traditional feeder formulae of F3 and F3000 causing several current drivers to agree with Mosley, including Ralf Schumacher and 20-year-old Jenson Button.

Ferrari's Rubens Barrichello, however, thinks otherwise: "If you have talent then it doesn't matter what age you are," he said. "If he doesn't put too much pressure on himself then he'll probably do well because he really seems like he has the talent."