Lotus says Raikkonen will finish out season
Mansoor Ijaz, chairman of a consortium of private investors buying a 35 percent stake in the team, told reporters at the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix that talks with the 2007 world champion's manager had prevented a potential walkout.
He said also that, once the long-awaited investment deal had been completed in the next few days, the team expected to sign Germany's Nico Hulkenberg as the Ferrari-bound Finn's replacement for 2014.
"I met with Kimi's manager last night, Steve Robertson…I've apologized to Steve, we've apologized to Kimi," said Ijaz.
"We intend to not only make sure that they (the unpaid wages) are made whole, and then some, we are intending to also compensate our employees and management team.
"I am confident that he (Raikkonen) will run the last two races and fulfill his professional obligations to us and us to him," added the U.S.-based businessman.
Raikkonen, who retired after a first lap collision in Abu Dhabi, made headlines before the race when he turned up a day late and told reporters he had considered not competing because of unpaid wages and other issues.
He also held out the possibility of boycotting the final rounds in Texas and Brazil.
The Finn is returning to Ferrari, the team with which he won his title in 2007, next season.
Lotus team principal Eric Boullier told reporters separately that the problems with his driver had been resolved but would not go into details.
"I cannot say anything about what has been agreed because this is confidential between both parties but it is all settled," he added. Reuters