McLaren driver Kevin Magnussen is hopeful of an improved showing at this weekend's Spanish Grand Prix. Magnussen finished in second place on his debut in Australia but has since had a more difficult time and failed to score points in Bahrain and China. The Dane now returns to the venue where he clinched the Formula Renault 3.5 Championship at the end of 2013. "As a team, we’ve had a difficult couple of races, so I think we all head to Spain hopeful of better fortunes," […]

McLaren racing director Eric Boullier says his team has to believe that they can stand on top of the podium once again in 2014. McLaren left the first round of the season in the lead of the constructors' championship but failed to score points in Bahrain or in China, with both Jenson Button and Kevin Magnussen finishing outside of the top 10 last weekend. McLaren has not won a race since the end of the 2012 season. "We have to believe we will win a […]

McLaren racing director Eric Boullier says his team is pushing 'aggressively' on the development of the MP4-29 and aims to be on the pace by the Spanish Grand Prix in May. McLaren left the season-opening Australian Grand Prix in the lead of the constructors' championship after Kevin Magnussen and Jenson Button finished in second and third place respectively. But Boullier estimates that rivals Mercedes and Williams have a significant advantage of the rest of the field, one which McLaren intends to close down by the […]

Eric Boullier has been appointed as McLaren's racing director. The Frenchman, who acted as Lotus team principal between 2010 and 2013, will join the team from next Monday. 'Working with Jonathan Neale (Chief Operating Officer) and his senior management colleagues within McLaren Racing, Eric will ultimately report to the Chief Executive Officer of McLaren Racing, an all-new position, whose yet-to-be-appointed occupant will in turn report directly to Ron Dennis (Chairman and Chief Executive Officer, McLaren Group)', read a McLaren statement. Boullier said that such a […]

Deposed McLaren boss Martin Whitmarsh could switch to Lotus for 2014, an insider has confirmed. Lotus' former chief, Eric Boullier, is the hot favourite to replace Whitmarsh at Woking, even though McLaren is not ready to confirm it. "New car but no boss", read the headline at the weekend by the Spanish newspaper Diario Sport. A team spokesman was quoted by Germany's Die Welt: "We are not talking at the moment about our management leadership." On the other hand, Lotus' team owner Gerard Lopez has […]

Eric Boullier has left his position as Lotus team principal with immediate effect. The Frenchman joined Lotus ahead of the 2010 season but has departed the team. Co-chairman Gerard Lopez will take over the role of team principal. Lopez's other chairmanship responsibilities will now be shared with co-Chairman Andrew Ruhan. "Lotus F1 Team has never stood still and we head into what promises to be an exciting 2014 season with an innovative new car, new partners and a new management structure at Enstone," said Lopez. […]

Toro Rosso will be among the teams at the Jerez test later this month. Lotus boss Eric Boullier insisted on Thursday that the Enstone based team will not be the only F1 outfit missing in action when the all-new cars and turbo V6s burst into action in southern Spain late in January. One of the missing teams, however, will not be Red Bull-owned Toro Rosso. The Faenza based team's new recruit, rookie Daniil Kvyat, told the Russian publication Championat he is currently training ahead of […]

Team boss Eric Boullier on Thursday played down Lotus' decision to sit out the opening test of the 2014 pre-season. The Enstone based team finished last season a competitive fourth, but also grappling publicly with financial matters. So the admission this week that Lotus will not be at Jerez, where most other teams will run their all-new V6-powered 2014 cars for the first time, raised renewed alarm bells about Lotus' financial health and competitiveness going forwards. But Frenchman Boullier said other teams will also be […]

Lotus looks to have made its choice of official reserve driver for 2014. It appears unlikely the Enstone based team will keep Davide Valsecchi on board, particularly after the Italian admitted he was "angry" when bosses overlooked him as the surgery-bound Kimi Raikkonen's replacement late last season. "Perhaps I lack experience but what chance do you have to gain any?" he said at the time. According to the Italiaracing publication, Lotus looks set to turn to the similarly Eric Boullier-managed, 23-year-old Danish driver Marco Sorensen […]

Even with a 2013 contract in his pocket, Romain Grosjean has admitted he remained perilously close to seeing his now flourishing F1 career end. Banned for a race in 2012 and written off as the 'first lap nutcase' by Mark Webber, the Frenchman entered the winter period uncertain if he would be returning in 2013. Ultimately, having developed a close working relationship with a psychologist and no longer running into regular trouble in wheel-to-wheel combat, Grosjean ended the recently-concluded season as a standout of 2013. […]

Lotus team principal Eric Boullier believes that his squad can improve Pastor Maldonado's focus ahead of the Venezuelan's move to the team for 2014. Maldonado will race for the Enstone based team next year after three seasons with Williams. Boullier has previously worked with Maldonado, as the Venezuelan raced for DAMS in the 2005 World Series by Renault championship. "He's a friendly guy, he's a fast guy. He won a race in Formula 1 and it was on merit - it was not gained from […]

12 months ago, Romain Grosjean was under pressure like never before. Huge pressure. His move at the start of the Japanese Grand Prix on Mark Webber was clumsy to the extreme; even a driver working his way through the junior formulae would have been humiliated by such an error. He was the first lap nutcase. The lunatic for whom a first lap was akin to an iceberg for the Titanic. His season ended with a ludicrous attempt at passing Pedro de La Rosa’s HRT in […]