Raikkonen pledges future to Ferrari

Following today's decision by the French legal authorites to refuse Ferrari's bid for an injunction against the voluntary budget cap for the 2010 season, the team's future in the sport is uncertain.

The Maranello outfit has said it will not lodge an entry for next year unless the rules are changed, and the deadline for applications for the 2010 world championship is in just nine days time.

Speaking at Monaco today, Raikkonen said he would prefer to race for Ferrari in a different championship than for another team in F1.

"I am pretty sure that we are not going to disappear from F1," he said. "But I don't know, but I cannot be 100 per cent sure. I will still have a contract with them and they are racing in many different categories, so I think they will find something for me.

"I work for Ferrari and we are one big family. It is my work and it is the place where I want to race. Whatever they do, I will do the same with them. We are one family and we do things together."

The Finn believes that losing the major manufacturers from F1 would be a huge blow to the sport.

"For me, if Ferrari is not in F1 nor any other big team like BMW or McLaren, it is not good for F1. They are the teams that make F1 and if you change the teams for other teams, new teams that come from GP2 or somewhere else, then it is not the same any more.

"F1 for me is all about the big teams, we race together and try to be the best. That is my opinion, but everybody has their own ideas."

Red Bull Racing's Mark Webber also said today that he does not think F1 would be the same sport without Ferrari.

"I hope the sport is in reasonable shape next year in terms of teams competing," said Webber. "There's a lot of water to go under the bridge yet and some serious egos involved, so we'll see."

When asked how important Ferrari is to F1, he said: "They are F1. The red car has to be on the Formula 1 grid."