Lotus is poised to announce Heikki Kovalainen as the replacement for his surgery-bound countryman Kimi Raikkonen for the last two races of 2013. It emerged earlier that the Enstone based team, despite having last year's GP2 champion Davide Valsecchi as its reserve driver, had made an offer to Sauber's Nico Hulkenberg. Hulkenberg turned it down, but it was a clear sign that Italian Valsecchi was not in fact the obvious favourite for the role, as Lotus tries desperately to improve its position in the lucrative constructors' championship despite Raikkonen's exit. Team boss Eric Boullier told the Italian website blogf1.it: "We are fighting for third place in the constructors' championship...
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