Lotus Renault GP sets sights on further success

Eric Boullier, the team enjoyed a great result in Australia. This must have been very pleasing after a busy and stressful winter?

Yes. First, it was a relief because it’s good to see that our car is a step up from last year and that we are already fighting for podiums. And it’s obviously a great reward for the whole team because everybody put a lot of effort in during the winter and especially over the last few weeks to get this car ready and working well.

Vitaly really delivered all weekend long in Melbourne. It was great to see him at the factory on Tuesday, where he received a very warm welcome from the staff…

Yes, it was good to see him firstly deliver on the track, having a focused weekend, remaining concentrated and being constructive with the team. Together they improved his car throughout the weekend. He had a very strong qualifying, where he soaked up the pressure well and then delivered a brilliant performance in the race. I think the result came from his perfect weekend and everyone in the team felt incredibly proud to see him on the podium. When he arrived here in Enstone after the race, addressing the whole team was a very good thing to do.

Is the race pace we saw from the R31 in Melbourne representative of where the car stands in the pecking order?

It reflected the order in Australia, to be honest. Today’s development rate is important and the capacity for the technical team to deliver a new package to the car is crucial in the fight for the championship. I think in Malaysia the order will be different, and for the race after that there will be another new order, so it’s not representative for the whole season, no.

Nick had a difficult first race with the team in Australia – are you confident he will bounce back in Sepang?

I’m 100% confident he will bounce back because he’s a fighter and a racer with a great deal of experience. He will be even more determined to give a great performance in Malaysia.

The development race starts in earnest, now. Do you think the team is capable of repeating the development pace it demonstrated last year?

I remain fully confident the team can repeat the performance of last year. We proved in 2010 that we had the ability to develop the car at a very high level and I see no reason why we cannot do the same this year, especially since we’ve worked on improving our processes and our production capacity.

Finally, do you think the team can continue taking the fight to what are considered the top teams – the Red Bulls, McLarens, and Ferraris of this world?

Yes, obviously we were in a good position in Australia and I can see us continuing to fight with the big teams.