An angry Kimi Raikkonen has confirmed he had to be talked out of refusing to drive at this week’s Abu Dhabi GP in protest at being “paid zero euros the whole year”.

Raikkonen announced in September that he will leave the team at the end of the current campaign to return to Ferrari. Since then, his relationship with the Enstone outfit appears to have deteriorated rapidly, culminating in a sweary radio spat with trackside director Alan Permane at last week’s Indian GP and the Finn’s absence from the Abu Dhabi paddock on Thursday.

It has now emerged that Raikkonen was prepared to skip click here for more