Korean Grand Prix: Romain Grosjean knows clean first lap is vital

The Frenchman is under pressure to end his run of early-race incidents, after he marked his recent return from a race ban in Italy with a controversial collision with Mark Webber at Suzuka.

That moment resulted in a post-race confrontation with Webber in the Lotus team offices at Suzuka - amid calls for Grosjean to face further sanctions from his team.

But speaking ahead of the Korean Grand Prix, Grosjean said he fully understood the seriousness of the situation he found himself in and knows exactly what he needs to do.

"I think not having any contact on the first lap, that is one of the objectives," explained Grosjean.

"It takes a bit of time, and it is a cycle as well so things have been going bad. But I am conscious of the risk at the start.

"The Spa accident was quite impressive and I was the first one happy that Fernando [Alonso] had nothing [no injuries]. I am conscious of the risks, and I paid the price for my mistakes.

"With the team I have spoken a lot: they are not happy, and I am not happy with the way I have been doing the first laps. There are 550 people working hard at Enstone and, if you ruin everything on the first lap, it is not good."

Grosjean said he had apologised to Webber and felt that the situation between them was sorted out now.

"Mark came to see me, and I understood he was unhappy," he said. "The only thing I could do was apologise. I was very sorry and hopefully now it will be a different story."

Webber himself said the matter was now closed.

"I went to see Romain and we had a discussion about it, so that it is," he explained.