Rain cost me victory, says Kimi

The McLaren star finished second to points leader Michael Schumacher in the race, but was leading comfortably until a heavy rain shower forced everyone onto wet tyres. The Bridgestone tyre used by Ferrari was markedly superior to Michelin in the wet conditions, and Raikkonen was helpless to prevent Schumacher from building up an unassailable lead.

"I'm a bit unhappy to finish second, really," he said. "But I think the weather wasn't in our favour this time. The beginning of the race was good, we were strong. Just our rain tyres are not as good as Bridgestone's.

"When it's a little bit wet and you can still run with slicks we seem to be stronger, and if it gets really heavy rain we have a good chance. But if it gets between those two, then our tyre doesn't work as well as the Bridgestone. It is much better than last year or the beginning of this year, and hopefully we're going to get there."

Raikkonen heads to Suzuka trailing Schumacher by nine points in the championship. Despite needing a minor miracle to claim the title (well, a Ferrari retirement at any rate) the Finn is refusing to give up.

"It's made our life more difficult," he said. "But at least we're in the championship. You never know, maybe we have another very difficult race in the last one, and it can all happen there. We just need to make the most of it. There is always a chance."