ric Boullier has once again played down speculation Romain Grosjean’s place at Lotus is in doubt for 2013.
At the end of a tumultuous season for Frenchman Grosjean, the 26-year-old admitted this week that he is yet to sign a new deal for next season.
But team boss Boullier told French-language f1i: "We believe in him.
"For us he is a long-term project and we consider him to be similar to (what McLaren did with) Lewis Hamilton.
"He has shown he is able to do superb racing, but then of course there were some errors that sometimes cost him very dearly.
"More recently he has been a bit more cautious and has been building up again, but I am sure that in 2013 we will see the real Romain," he added.