SAO PAULO, Oct 22, 2007 (AFP) - Newly-crowned champion Kimi Raikkonen woke on Monday with a smile and a hangover, his status as Formula One drivers´ title-holder still subject to a McLaren appeal.

At the end of a controversial season, overshadowed by the ´spy story´ and the intra-team rivalry of brilliant British rookie Lewis Hamilton, 22, and his McLaren team-mate double champion Spaniard Fernando Alonso, it was an appropriate ending.

Only after the FIA´s legal system and intricate regulations concerning appeals have completed their course will the flying Finn, ´iceman´ Raikkonen, really be free to begin his celebrations.

To most seasoned observers the Ferrari driver was a deserving champion and a thrilling winner of Sunday´s Brazilian Grand Prix, shrugging off years of near-misses to deliver victory with the aplomb of a real champion.

But McLaren´s decision to give notice that they reserve the right to appeal against a stewards decision not to punish the BMW Sauber and Williams teams for fuel irregularities has left a mood of uncertainty hanging over the result and the season.

In theory, Raikkonen could lose his title to Hamilton, who finished seventh, if German Nico Rosberg, Poland´s Robert Kubica and German Nick Heidfeld are penalised for the irregularities in the temperature of fuel samples taken from their cars.

But Ferrari president Luca di Montezemolo said he is not concerned about McLaren´s decision to appeal.

The race stewards ruled that there was no proof that the Williams and BMWs - which finished ahead of Hamilton in fourth to sixth places - had contravened the regulations, but McLaren have notified the FIA that they will attempt to have the decision overturned on appeal.

This has left a cloud of uncertainty over Raikkonen´s championship victory, but di Montezemolo said he believed McLaren´s appeal will be futile.

"It looks to me like it is a useless stress for everyone," he told Italian radio station RAI. "The regulations say that even if some car gets disqualified, it doesn´t mean that the points are automatically given to the others."

Di Montezemolo also suggested that the FIA should reconsider how the technical regulations were enforced and appoint professional stewards rather than the current unpaid officials.

"Enough of that, let´s look ahead and let´s send professional stewards to the races instead of amateurs at large," he said. "It must be said that the complexity of today´s cars creates difficulties in checks and verifications, from the electronics to the fuels, aerodynamics and everything else. Everything is about hundredths of seconds."

While Hamilton slept in at his hotel in Sao Paulo Monday morning, his team-mate Alonso said he would be "embarrassed" if Hamilton won the world title on appeal.

"If he wins the title because of this it wouldn´t be fair. I´d be embarrassed for this sport," said Alonso. "I´m not sure what Lewis would think - I guess if they give you the title, you don´t think it´s a present but rather that you deserve it. He would be delighted."

He added: "If you have more points, you are the deserved champion, just like in football. Kimi has won six races and Hamilton, like me, has won four."

After a torrid first season with McLaren, Alonso made clear that he felt the team had failed to give him sufficient backing.

He said: "McLaren got it wrong. They lost the championship for the mistaken decisions they made in the second part of the season. It isn´t a secret that they haven´t helped me much.

"It wasn´t a very well-organised season from the point of view of the management. There was no sensation of being a team and the result speaks for itself.

"Each person will have to draw their own lessons from this season but if we had taken a different approach we would have obtained different results."

He added: "In the last few races my hands and feet were tied. I had no power to make decisions. I had to race as they told me. McLaren lost and Ferrari did a better job than anyone else."

And asked about whether he could see a future with the British-based team, Alonso said: "The only reality is that I´m under contract to McLaren. I know there are a lot of rumours but I haven´t spoken with another team, that´s the reality."