Kimi Raikkonen has been assured that Lotus are lining up all their “ducks in a row” in a bid to entice him to stay.

Without a contract with the Enstone-based team for next season, the 33-year-old Finn’s future remains the source of ongoing speculation.

Team principal Eric Boullier expressed confidence following last month’s Belgian Grand Prix that Raikkonen would not leave Lotus.

Boullier acknowledged, however, there were several issues that needed resolving before talks could begin with regard to a new deal.

The Frenchman would like to believe those measures are being put in place as he said: “It’s clear Kimi likes racing for us and would like to continue, which is a testament to all the hard work put in by everyone at Enstone.

“From our perspective, we can see what a complete driver he is and how much he brings to the team in many different areas.

“Kimi wants to be assured we have everything in place to tackle the significant changes we will see in the sport next year.

“We’re working hard to assure him Lotus is where he should be, and piece by piece we are getting all our ducks in a row.”

In this year’s championship, Raikkonen slumped to 63 points adrift of Sebastian Vettel following the German’s victory at Spa and his first retirement for 39 races.

Lotus has traced the source of the brake failure on Raikkonen’s car to a helmet visor tear-off that blocked a cooling duct, so overheating the component.

Boullier concedes if Raikkonen is to remain in the title hunt over the remaining eight races, starting in Italy next weekend, he and the team cannot afford another DNF (did not finish) against his name.

“We’re studying all the data and working on ways to avoid a similar situation from happening in the future,” added Boullier.

“It was unfortunate for Kimi to experience his retirement, but this is sometimes part of motor racing, so we must now switch our focus to Monza.

“We need to get Kimi back on the podium and consistently.”