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"We&amp;#039;ve known for a few days that Kimi Raikkonen wouldn&amp;#039;t be on the grid at Circuit of the Americas this weekend. Pay disputes and a curious wreck-and-run at Abu Dhabi (along with the subsequent back aches) have all added yet another bizarre chapter to the Iceman Saga. Now Lotus has announced that veteran Heikki Kovalainen will race in Raikkonen&amp;#039;s spot Sunday at the US Grand Prix. Kovalainen has made 109 career starts for Renault and Caterham&amp;#039;s F1 teams, as well as the McLaren squad. He was once a premier driver in Formula 1, and is best known for his victory at the 2008 Hungarian Grand Prix. &amp;quot;Jumping into a car so late in the year when you have not been competing in the races all season will be a challenge, but I know the team at Enstone well so I have no concerns about getting up to speed,&amp;quot; Kovalainen said in a press release. He hasn&amp;#039;t raced since last year. READ MORE: Kimi Raikkonen absence fuels doubts over Lotus F1 team relationship &amp;quot;This is a great opportunity for me, so I would like to thank Tony Fernandes and Caterham F1 Team for allowing me to take advantage of it.&amp;quot; That last bit refers to the 32-year Finnish driver&amp;#039;s contract at Caterham F1, which ran through the end of this season. As you might remember, Lotus and Caterham have had some bad blood since a 2009 naming dispute, but it seems that the two teams have now buried the hatchet. Of course, there  aren&amp;#039;t any home drivers in Texas this weekend, and Raikkonen is as a fan favorite. It may not be a catastrophe, but the Iceman will certainly be missed on Sunday. WATCH THIS: David Coulthard does sky-high F1-car donuts in Dubai Via Lotus "^^<http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema#string>
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