In an era where fans are all too used to team principals and paddock bosses making calls as to who will win or lose a race, leaving drivers to obey or disobey their Team's wishes, Eric Boullier simply says, let them race!
When last weekend's Korean Grand Prix came to a close as Sebastian Vettel crossed the finish line in P1 for the fourth consecutive race, fans and the motor-racing press were left with lots of talking points. Tire degradation, track condition, Red Bull's continued dominance and the question of that dominance being gained 'legally', were all hot topics. Another was the radio communications between the Team Lotus pits and Romain Grosjean as he asked for a free team-sanctioned overtake of fellow Lotus pilot Kimi Raikkonen.
Knowing that Team Lotus leaders, Principal Eric Boullier and race engineer Ayao Komatsuhad asked for Grosjean to allow Kimi past at both the British and German GP's this year, it was reasonable for Grosjean, who clearly thought he had the faster car, to be allowed past Raikkenon. However, it all comes down to team strategy.
The teams philosophy is always to let us race unless were on very different strategies where one driver could hold up the other, said Grosjean, and this is the right approach. Obviously were both competitive, but our racing has always been fair. I made a mistake in Korea which is why he got past, but this is not something I want to happen again.
but during the race the fans saw things differently, as if the team was favoring Raikkenon. Boullier responded to these rumors by announcing, "You have to remember that the television feed only takes certain edits from radio transmissions between the driver and the pit wall. We had Romain asking for Kimi to let him by as he felt he was faster, but we wanted to leave the drivers to determine their positions by racing on track which is why we were telling Romain to race Kimi."
As we know, Kimi doesnt want to talk too much to the pit wall and doesnt need words of encouragement; he knows what hes doing and we saw that once more in Korea.
Boullier eventually told Grosjean on the radio to keep racing like it is.
Tom Spithaler
F1 Editor - USA
Lotus says: Race!
- Published on 09 Oct 2013 21:20
-
0
- By: Tom Spithaler
.
Trending news
-
'Newey Hospitalised as Aston Martin Struggle On'Adrian Newey's arrival at Aston Martin was supposed to be the beginning of the team's transformation into a g...
07 May 2026 15:20 -
Red Bull Admit the Weight Problem Was Fixed Too Late but Promise More Progress by AustriaMax Verstappen knew something was wrong with the RB22 from the very first lap of the season. Red Bull have now formal...
07 May 2026 12:14 -
Schumacher Says Hamilton Should Step Aside for Bearman at FerrariRalf Schumacher has made a direct call: Lewis Hamilton's time at Ferrari should end after this season, and Oliver...
07 May 2026 16:22 -
Antonelli's Miami Win Gives Mercedes a Historic Podium RecordAndrea Kimi Antonelli's victory in Miami was not just another win in a dominant run of results. It also moved Mer...
07 May 2026 14:19 -
Horner Rules Out Alpine Return and Compares Marquez to VerstappenChristian Horner has been out of Formula 1 since Red Bull removed him from his team principal role last year, and he ...
07 May 2026 13:18
Azerbaijan Grand Prix
Local time
-
Friday
Saturday
Sunday
Azerbaijan Grand Prix
Local time
-
Friday
-
Saturday
-
Sunday
-
Friday
-
Saturday
-
Sunday
Test calendar
Circuit de Catalunya - Winter testing
-
Jan 26
I. Hadjar
- 1:18.159
-
-
-
Jan 27
M. Verstappen
- 1:19.578
-
-
-
Jan 28
A. Antonelli
- 1:17.362
-
-
-
Jan 29
G. Russell
- 1:16.445
-
-
-
Jan 30
L. Hamilton
- 1:16.348
-
-
Bahrain International Circuit - Winter testing
-
Feb 11
L. Norris
- 1:34.669
-
-
-
Feb 12
C. Leclerc
- 1:34.273
-
-
-
Feb 13
A. Antonelli
- 1:33.669
-
-
Bahrain International Circuit - Winter testing
-
Feb 18
G. Russell
- 1:33.459
-
-
Feb 19
A. Antonelli
- 1:32.803
-
-
Feb 20
C. Leclerc
- 1:31.992
-
-
World Championship standings 2026
Pos
Driver
Team
Points
Pos
Team
Points
Related news
Give your opinion!
Formula 1 Calendar - 2026
Date
Grand Prix
Circuit
-
Spain
-
Bahrain
-
Bahrain
Formula 1 Calendar - 2026
Date
Grand Prix & Circuit
-
Spain
Circuit de Catalunya
-
Bahrain
Bahrain International Circuit
-
Bahrain
Bahrain International Circuit
6 - Mar 8
Australia
Albert Park
13 - Mar 15
27 - Mar 29
Japan
Circuit Suzuka
10 - Apr 12
Bahrain
Bahrain International Circuit
17 - Apr 19
Saudi Arabia
Jeddah Street Circuit
1 - May 3
United States of America
Miami International Autodrome
22 - May 24
Canada
Gilles Villeneuve
5 - Jun 7
Monaco
Monte Carlo
12 - Jun 14
Spain
Circuit de Catalunya
Driver profile
- Team -
- Points -
- Podiums -
- Grand Prix -
- Country France
- Date of b. Apr 17 1986 (40)
- Place of b. Geneve, France
- Weight 71 kg
- Length 1.8 m
3 members have this team as their favourite
Tweets about Romain Grosjean
Team profile
- Team name Lotus F1
- Base Enstone, United Kingdom
- Daniel Ricciardo 3
- Kimi Räikkönen 7
- Romain Grosjean 8
- Kimi Räikkönen 9
- Romain Grosjean 10
- Pastor Maldonado 13
- Pastor Maldonado 13
- Kevin Magnussen 20
- Nico Hülkenberg 27
- Jolyon Palmer 30
- Esteban Ocon 31
- Carlos Sainz jr 55
- 65,124 comments on Lotus F1
- 16 members have this team as their favourite
- Tweets about Lotus F1
Replies (0)
Login to reply