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Lotus boss Eric Boullier has apologised for the radio exchange between Kimi Raikkonen and Alan Permane during the Indian Grand Prix.

The team's trackside operations director Permane told Raikkonen to "move out of the ****ing way" as the Finn struggled for pace with worn tyres while team-mate Romain Grosjean was right behind him.

In his first passing attempt, Grosjean had to go off track to avoid contact.

Raikkonen responded on the radio with another profanity before Grosjean, under pressure from Ferrari's Felipe Massa, passed him on his way to third place.

Lotus said after the race that it would discuss Raikkonen's defiance.

On Monday, Boullier said the radio exchange had been inappropriate and that he will make sure it is not repeated.

"Romain was two seconds per lap faster than Kimi at that time, so it was not even a team order," said Boullier.

"By asking Kimi to let Romain pass, we just made the obvious choice, as Massa could have stolen our podium.

"With hindsight, this radio message could have been sent in a less emotional way.

"There was a lot of tension, a lot of potential technical problems, and some of the words that flew around were simply not appropriate.

"I know that quite a few people were surprised and I can only apologise for that on behalf of the team. It won't happen again."