Boullier: “We’ve got to raise our game”

2011 F1 season

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Eric Boullier, Renault, Nurburgring, 2011

Eric Boullier says he’s “not satisfied” with Renault’s performance so far in 2011.

Vitaly Petrov and Nick Heidfeld have amassed 66 points between them so far, 23 less than the team had at this point last year.

But they’ve only scored six points in the last three races and fell behind Mercedes in the constructors’ championship at the British Grand Prix.

Boullier said: “I’ve made no secret of the fact that I’m not satisfied with where we are, no one in the team is.

“We started the season well, but that feels like a while ago now and we have to face the facts, which are that we’ve been off the pace and we are trying hard to put that right.

“We brought some developments to the car in Germany, which didn’t produce nearly enough so we are now all eyes forward to Hungary to ensure we have the opportunity to head on our summer breaks on a high.”

He added the teams close behind are putting them under more pressure:

“I’ve expected improvement from our car for a number of races now, and we are making improvement, but we have got to get our heads down and make bigger strides.

“It’s a competitive field out there, with Force India and Sauber also competing in higher positions, so we’ve got to raise our game starting in Hungary.”

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Keith Collantine
Lifelong motor sport fan Keith set up RaceFans in 2005 - when it was originally called F1 Fanatic. Having previously worked as a motoring...

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35 comments on “Boullier: “We’ve got to raise our game””

  1. also He said Roman Grojean is ready…Interesting comment.

    1. Its well documented a fact, that Heidfeld needs to be pushed to get maximum performance. Putting the pressure on with Grosjean and Senna driving might help.

      Yesterday, I read him saying that the team look at Petrov (Vitaly) for performance and have Heidfeld for car improvements. Now combine that with how they are struggling to improve the car, and it means Heidfeld fails both to be Quick Nick and to do enough on car improvements.

      1. Although the point where GenII have a bit of a lack of funds probalby doesn’t make it easier on them.

        1. Wasn’t the main reason Heidfield was brought in at the start of the season is they needed some one to develop the car. I’m sure its not all not so quick Nicks fault but ironically that is were they are struggling after starting the season so good.

          Senna is getting a practice session on Friday but Grojean seems to be a good bet down the line with what Boullier has been saying.

          1. Maybe Geni will aquire some funds with the Sutil lawsuit lol

          2. @snowman. LMAO.

          3. They’ve struggled with development, contributed to (as Bas pointed out) by the fact that GenII and the team have no money. They also had Wind Tunnel problems earlier in the season which won’t have helped.

            Don’t think it’s fair on either Heidfeld or Petrov to lay blame with them (or wish Kubica was in the car, but that’s another rant).

            Fact is, both drivers are doing the best job they can with the equipment/skills they have. For what it’s worth, I think Petrov has improved. He’s crashed less this year.

          4. Apparently the Group Lotus sponsorship money wasn’t as forthcoming as hoped, because of the legal case with Team Lotus.

          5. HelloKittyF1
            27th July 2011, 18:31

            McLarenFanJamm: Their best job is poor job. Make no mistake, their perormance this season is worse than bad. Skip this 2 podiums and whats there? Nothing.

    2. I doubt who will Romain replace?

      1. I can’t see him ousting Petrov. Maybe, MAYBE if Kubica can’t return.

  2. It just shows how vital was Kubica for this team.

    1. However we never know what he can do this year. even the next year there’s no guarantee that he is the same as before.

    2. That’s a very simplistic way of looking at things. Nobod will ever know how well Kubica would have done. I personally feel that once he realised that the car was not up to scratch, he ould have lost motivation and performed badly like in 2009.

      1. I think you might be right, but I also think he could have edged on the team and inspired them to improve more and faster, with greater focus.

    3. No one can do much if the car is not performing well.

      Both drivers showed they are capable of scoring podiums. But Renault is losing the development race against the rest of the field.

      So instead of having 2 podiums at the start of the season, you have them struggling to get into the Q3.

      1. But for me, Kubica could’ve galvanized the team around him and been more assertive in terms of developing the car to fit his needs.

  3. What happened to the team that had two podiums in the first two races of this year? They are back in the midfield now.

    1. True man. I think the EBD regs and engine mapping have hit them worst than anyone else. Still they have been on the downward trend right from Barcelona.

      1. the EBD was back in Germany though and didn’t help them at all. Think their problems are much deeper than just engine maps and their odd exhaust system.

        1. In Germany they were trying their new solution, as the forward exiting exhausts weren’t working well with the engine mapping restrictions.

          Yeah but its more than just the exhausts and engine mapping.. the drivers maybe?

          1. Thought they binned the new exhaust off after FP1? The cars certainly sounded as rough as ever during the race and qualifying.

  4. Renault. Boy, what’s happening? Fabolous in AUS and MAL, but both drivers are doing very averagely since then. I really thought they had a top car this year. If only Kubic awas around, I’d have loved to see what he could have done with that car.

    1. I’ll tell you what is happening-> In AUS and MAL that was a fresh car, in majority configured and prepared by Kubica, and then lack of development because of two not-so-good drivers ;)

    2. I think the team do need to improve, however, Heidfeld getting smashed into by Buemie won’t help matters. Bit hard to criticise the team directly after that incident.

  5. To develop a car you need a team. With Renault bleeding experienced team members left and right this year it’s grossly unfair to pin the lack of development on Heidfeld.

    Technical team falling apart, dodgy management, financial problems, ownership questions, sponsor shenanigans..what does Boullier expect?

    It would be a huge mistake for Grosjean to parachute into this shambles of a team with another few races to go imo.

  6. The Last Pope
    26th July 2011, 18:34

    Are you happy with what you have done Mr Bahar? >:-(

    1. That’s not really got anything to do with the development of the team on track.

      1. The Last Pope
        28th July 2011, 1:17

        Of course it has, Group Lotus isn’t coming up with the money that they promised.

  7. What needs to be done is for Renault to buy the team back and protect their name in Formula 1 the current situation is a joke nobody calls them Lotus Renault they are known as Renault and they will for the forseeable future always be referenced as Renault.

    1. Maybe not, but Brundle twice called them “Lotus” on Sunday.

      1. The Last Pope
        27th July 2011, 1:40

        But he said himself, he made lots of mistakes in his commentary.

  8. Eric, maybe Kubica was rite when he choose Liuzzi as his preferred replacement.

    1. Its questionable how well Liuzzi is doing this season. He has put in a few strong performances but you can hardly compare him with Karthikeyan or Ricciardo.

  9. themagicofspeed (@)
    27th July 2011, 22:48

    it makes me sad to see what renault have become. i was never a fan, and arent now, but its a shame to see how they have slid from their top form of 2005/06 to being an embarrassing shadow of their former selves, pretending to be ‘the real lotus f1 team’, driving around in the midfield with possibly the worst F1 car livery since the Midland/Spyker mess of a few years ago.

    crashgate in 2008 truly spelled the beginning of the end it seems, as thats when renault half heartedly pulled out, they lost a vital sponsor in ING, and from then on have been slowly sinking into a hole from which i doubt they can emerge. so very sad.

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