Q&A with Eric Boullier, Lotus Renault GP team principal

What’s your feeling after the first day of running for the Spanish Grand Prix?

There were some challenges today, but we are going to bounce back tomorrow to ensure we are fighting for the top six. Obviously, we don’t know the fuel levels that everyone else ran with and we did have a few problems with KERS on Vitaly’s car – something which will be rectified come FP3. The tyre degradation is very evident here, and we’re going to have to monitor this as we head into qualifying and Sunday’s race.

How different are the dynamics now we’re in Europe?

Now we’re in Europe, the races are closer to everyone’s factories so it is an opportunity for all teams to increase the rate of upgrades. We have come here with a decent package, so I’m confident things will be good tomorrow. It looks like Ferrari and Mercedes could have made big steps forward too, so we are going to need to be really on our game to make sure we compete highly.

From Barcelona it’s straight to Monaco next week. It’s the smallest paddock and the race weekend starts a day earlier – how difficult does that make logistics?

It’s a very big challenge and one we approach with military-like organisation. The teams have to upload and build up for the Monaco race in a strict order and anyone missing their slot for this causes big problems. But it is a unique race and one we really look forward to. Historically, Enstone’s cars have adapted well to Monaco, so I think we will have a strong showing there. Although Monaco is just around the corner, we have the Spanish Grand Prix to think about and we are just focusing on the here and now.

Finally, what would leave you satisfied from this weekend?

I want both cars in the points, finishing higher than in Turkey. We are capable of that, and we just need to keep pushing to perform at our potential.

Source Lotus Renault GP