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Boullier happy with prove of competitive Lotus package

Published on 24 Apr 2012 13:03
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By: Rob Veenstra

Three races into the season, Eric Boullier cut a figure of frustration in the Formula 1 paddock. With round four finally providing the reward the team deserved for their efforts, the Team Principal takes great satisfaction in proving just how competitive the Lotus F1 Team package can be.

Eric, a very good result in Bahrain; was there a specific element of the teams performance that stood out to you as the key?
Boullier: "It was a great team performance and I'm delighted for everyone involved, both within the race team and back at Enstone. I wouldnt pick out a single factor; it's more the culmination of a few small details where perhaps we haven't got things quite right in the first three races, which was incredibly frustrating, but we managed to put them right at the weekend. Everything ran very smoothly with no major glitches, and with a bit of a strategy gamble that eventually paid off."

What do you think made the difference last weekend after what you've frequently described as a 'frustrating' start to the season?
Boullier: "I think its a combination of things. The weather for a start was much more suited to the E20's strengths in Bahrain than at previous races. It's always difficult to start a new season with such a large amount of changes as well; the car is very different to last year's, we have an all-new driver line-up, and moulding those things together can take time. Now, we've really gelled into a strong unit; the drivers are fully up to speed after a long break from the sport, and were starting to look like a complete package."

After three races where the E20 hasnt quite fulfilled its potential, do you feel a sense of relief to have this result on the board?
Boullier: "Yes, definitely. It's so frustrating when you see the whole team back at Enstone putting in such a huge amount of effort over the winter, especially after a difficult season last year, and you don't get the results you know you are capable of. It's more than relief, it's a sense of pride because no matter how confident you are in what you've created, its never proven until you get results. Thankfully weve achieved that, and its a real credit to everyone involved."

You must be pleased with the performance of the drivers at this early stage in the season having only come into the team so recently?
Boullier: "Both drivers did a very, very good job out there and it's especially satisfying to have two cars not only on the podium, but also so evenly matched in terms of pace. Kimi has obviously been competing in a totally different category, and Romain had a difficult experience with us back in 2009; seeing how quickly theyve got to grips with the car shows what a strong line-up we have in them."

Are you surprised that the race played out the way it did after qualifying? The car seemed to go from having decent pace to being the quickest package out there on the day
Boullier: "I think we had the speed all weekend, but the grid is so tight this year that even a few thousandths of a second can make a big difference, and one slight mistake can be very costly. While qualifying was not perfect, everything in the race was very good; the car itself obviously, the pit stops, which the crew had put hours of work into making more competitive, our strategy, which may have looked like a risk on the surface but which played out just as we'd hoped, and of course the drivers who drove flawlessly. It was a fantastic all-round performance, and theres more to come, Im sure."

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