Lotus boss Eric Boullier has backed Romain Grosjean following another early exit for the Frenchman in the Monaco Grand Prix.
Grosjean had been expected to fight for victory in Monaco, but his race was over before the first corner after he brushed wheels with Fernando Alonso away from the start and then crashed with Michael Schumacher. Although that is the third time this year Grosjean has been out of races early on, Boullier thinks that his inexperience has to be taken in to account when judging the reigning GP2 champion's form.
"I am disappointed," said Boullier about Lotus missing out on fighting at the front. "After two good weekends we did not know what to expect with the speed here, so it was a nice surprise to see one of our guys fighting for the front.
"With Romain, there is no excuse, but just one thing: all the drivers around him, they have done millions of miles of testing and many races before. He is still in his first year, so he has the right to do so [make mistakes].
"I think he is doing a pretty amazing job for a rookie driver and nobody on the grid today who started his career with no F1 testing and stepped into F1 has done as well as he is doing."
Grosjean crashed out of Australia on the first lap after a collision with Pastor Maldonado, and then spun out early in the Malaysian GP shortly after he made contact with Schumacher.