Ferrari team principal Stefano Domenicali expects Kimi Raikkonen to do a Valentino Rossi next year - and return to form after a disappointing campaign.

Raikkonen was overshadowed by teammate Felipe Massa this season, as Ferrari won the constructors' championship but lost the drivers' title battle by one point.

And with Massa having found a new maturity and the consistency he was lacking in his early career, Raikkonen will have to lift his game if he wants to emerge as team leader again.

But Domenicali has said that he reckons Raikkonen can do what Rossi did in MotoGP this year - capture the crown after being written off by critics.

"I think for sure this year was a difficult year for him," said Domenicali when asked by autosport.com about how Raikkonen would move on from the events of this season.

"But he is happy because we won together as a team. And he is looking forward to starting again, because for sure this is not the one that he knows.

"I already said that a lot of people were talking last season about Valentino Rossi being finished this year, and he has actually done a lot. So I am expecting the same kind of approach in 2009."