2008 was his title defending season, however things didn’t exactly turn out as Kimi Raikkonen had hoped for. After taking the crown in his debut season with Ferrari, the Finn was looking to take back to back success, but when all was said and done, he was lucky to finish third.

He is well aware that the past season was not one of his best, but now it is time to look ahead and not back with the launching of their new 2009 contender, the F60.

"The last year was not exactly what I wanted but it is in the past now and we will try again this year. Of course there is a big question mark over how quick the car is and who will make the best car because the rules have changed so much,” he said.

“We are very confident that the car should be very good and we will see how good it is against the others in the next few weeks. For sure we will be trying to win both championships but first we have to start testing and then we will go from there.”

At the end of this month the Finn will take part in a race of a different kind when he climbs behind the wheel of a Subaru Imprezza in the Actic Lapland Rally, something fully endorsed by team boss Stefano Domenicali.

"Traditionally we always have a very open relationship with our drivers; we were criticised when Michael Schumacher played football on the race weekends. Letting Kimi drive a two-day rally is the same approach. We consider it two days of tests for him, although it's not Formula 1."