Lotus apologises after Permane death threats

Lotus has apologised after an expletive-laden exchange on the radio with Kimi Raikkonen during the Indian grand prix.

When the Finn was struggling for pace but duelling with his much-faster teammate Romain Grosjean, chief engineer Alan Permane told Raikkonen in no uncertain terms: "Get out of the f***ing way!"

Raikkonen replied: "Don’t f***ing shout at me."

It is believed Permane received death threats against himself and his family in the wake of the radio message, ostensibly from angry Raikkonen fans.

"With hindsight," team boss Eric Boullier said, "this radio message could have been sent in a less emotional way.

"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," he added.