Late last week, there was no sign Kimi Raikkonen was planning to sit out the last two grands prix of his Lotus career. Indeed, late on Friday, the team released its official preview of the US grand prix, in which it appeared the Finn's now tense relationship with Lotus had eased. 'He is completely on-side,' said team boss Eric Boullier, while Raikkonen was quoted as saying he was 'particularly looking forward' to the race weekend. Within two days, Lotus was issuing a new statement, confirming Raikkonen is out for imminent back surgery. 'Was Kimi sitting comfortably for his seat fitting at Ferrari on Thursday, I wonder?' Reuters correspondent Alan Baldwin commented cynically on Twitter....
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