Finland salutes its F1 champion Raikkonen

"Jury rules: Kimi is the champion," said the Ilta Sanomat mass circulation paper on Monday.

 Raikkonen won the season-ending Brazilian Grand Prix on Sunday but had to wait several hours before being confirmed champion due to an investigation into the BMW and Williams teams. Briton Lewis Hamilton would have won the title had those teams been disqualified.

 Raikkonen, 28, in his first season at Ferrari, is the third Finn to become Formula One champion. Keke Rosberg lifted the trophy in 1982 and Mika Hakkkinen got a double 1998 and 1999.

 Finns celebrated Raikkonen's achievement in pubs and bars in his birth-town of Espoo and all around the country on Sunday night.

 The Iltalehti daily had a photo of his grandmother holding up a glass of bubbly under the headline: "Cheers and congratulations Kimi!"

   His grandmother promised to "give him warm kisses on his cheek as a gift when she sees him, but she didn't know when that would be," Iltalehti said.

 There could be more honours waiting for Raikkonen at the end of the year in recognition of his achievement.

 The English-language internet edition of the Helsingin Samonat daily said that Raikkonen "has probably put himself into serious contention when the time comes to select the Finnish Sports Personality of the Year."