Lotus expect to finalise an in-vestment deal imminently and are confident Kimi Raikkonen will decide to stay on next season, according to the F1 team’s principal Eric Boullier.

“Yes, I am (confident). He likes to be here and he likes the environment we created for him,” the Frenchman said.

“I understand he needs to be reassured about the strength of the team financially, the technical challenge we have to face for next year... it’s normal.”

Boullier said he expected new investment, first announced in June, to be finalised by next week’s Italian Grand Prix to put the team on a secure footing.

Raikkonen, the 2007 champion who is out of contract at the end of the year and has been linked to other top teams, indicated at Spa that his salary had not been fully paid and Lotus knew what had to be resolved before any talks could begin.

Boullier said the issues alluded to by Raikkonen, who won the season-opening Australian Grand Prix and is currently fourth in the standings, were being addressed.

“They are solvable if we can put in place the package we want to put in place,” he said.

Lotus announced in June that a consortium of private in-vestors, including a US hedge fund manager and an Abu Dhabi-based business group, had acquired a 35% stake.