There is some confusion over whether Raikkonen was referring to his basic
salary, or whether he was referring to performance-related bonuses agreed in
his contract. He finished in the points a record 27 times in a row for
Lotus, a run which only ended in Spa last month.
Lotus’ parlous financial position is symptomatic of a wider issue in Formula
One, with many of the smaller teams struggling to keep their heads above
water.
In response to suggestions that his Ferrari
partnership with Alonso next year might prove “explosive”,
Raikkonen said that he saw no reason why they could not make it work.
“We are all old enough to know what we are doing and the team is working
to make sure, if there is something, that we can talk it through,” he
said.
“It is not like we are 20-year-old guys any more. I might be wrong, but
time will tell.
“I am pretty sure all things will be good. For sure there will be hard
fight on the race circuit, and sometimes things go wrong, but I am pretty
sure it will be OK.”