Eric Boullier has revealed Lotus is "a little disappointed" with Pirelli's decision to change its 2013 tyres mid-season. Amid the media furore and the complaining of prominent teams like Red Bull and Mercedes, F1's official supplier announced that it will revert to elements of last year's tyre design for the Canadian grand prix next month and beyond. But Lotus boss Boullier stressed that only "some teams" actually welcome the changes "because it can help their performance". Indeed, teams including Lotus and Barcelona winner Ferrari were […]

Lotus has announced that Nick Chester has been promoted to the position of technical director. Chester replaces James Allison, who is thought to have several offers from rival teams. Allison has worked at the team since 2005 and also enjoyed stints at Enstone between 1991-1992 and 1994-1999. Chester joined Enstone in 2000, having worked at Arrows for five years. "Nick is well known to everyone at Enstone having been with the team for over twelve years," said team principal Eric Boullier. "He is already directly […]

Ferrari's Felipe Massa set the fastest time during the opening ninety minute practice session in Bahrain. Massa's time of 1:34.487 was almost a tenth of a second quicker than team-mate Fernando Alonso. The first 30 minutes of the session was relatively quiet as teams opted to stay in the garage due to dusty track conditions. Once running got under way, drivers opted to use the hard compound tyre. Nico Rosberg was third for Mercedes, ahead of reigning world champion Sebastian Vettel. Paul di Resta was […]

Romain Grosjean admits that he is still looking for a connection with his Lotus E21. Grosjean has scored points in all three races, but sits 38 points behind team-mate Kimi Raikkonen Raikkonen defends Pirelli tyres "I would be lying if I said the car is exactly where I want it and we are having quite an adventure to get the setup and feeling from the car how we want it. This is very frustrating for a driver, as you want your car to be obedient […]

Lotus driver Kimi Raikkonen says he cannot understand why people are complaining about Pirelli's tyres. Several drivers, most vocally Mark Webber, have complained that Formula 1 has become too tyre centric during the early part of 2013. But Raikkonen, who won in Australia, believes that using the tyres correctly is simply part of racing. "I think you can push on these tyres, but it’s never perfect. You cannot always push 100%. I think they are very good in qualifying and have good grip, so it’s […]

Lotus boss Eric Boullier has backed Romain Grosjean to bounce back from a bad start to the 2013 season. Last year, while often showing lightning speed, Swiss-born Grosjean became known as F1's 'first lap nutcase', following a series of incidents that culminated in the first race ban issued by the FIA for many years. Lotus, however, gave the 26-year-old another chance, but so far in 2013 - whilst keeping out of trouble - Frenchman Grosjean has been struggling for pace. At the same time, in […]

Lotus's Romain Grosjean is aiming to progress further up the field in Bahrain following a disappointing race in China. Grosjean started from sixth place and swiftly dispatched Nico Rosberg to move up to fifth. But the Frenchman slipped back and came home in ninth place. "It was a long, tough race and again we not able to make it work quite as well as we wanted," said Grosjean. "I’m definitely not happy with ninth place; we started P6 and thought we had a good chance […]

Lotus driver Romain Grosjean admits that he has yet to show his full potential so far in 2013. Grosjean finished in tenth place in Australia and followed that up with sixth in Malaysia. He sits in eighth place in the championship. "It’s been a little frustrating as I don’t think I’ve shown my full potential yet," he said. "The first two races were quite difficult for me and I would really like a weekend where I can show what myself and the team can do […]

Lotus team principal Eric Boullier says that drivers must obey the wishes of the team and that such orders are a part of the sport. Sebastian Vettel ignored team orders to pass Mark Webber for the lead in the Malaysian Grand Prix. Boullier agrees with the use of team orders and insists that drivers must work for the team. "Team orders are part of the sport. You have two main strategies to run a team. You might favour one driver, clearly stating ‘driver number one’ and […]

Jacques Villeneuve, the 1997 world champion turned TV pundit, thinks Lotus' Kimi Raikkonen would be a good bet for this year's championship. "I said before Australia that it would be Alonso and Hamilton for the title, now I think I would bet everything on the Spaniard and the Finn," he is quoted by France's Auto Hebdo. The Enstone based team, however, had a much less impressive weekend in Malaysia, just a few days after Raikkonen's Melbourne win. "It's true, we didn't have a good race […]

Eric Boullier, Lotus' team boss, has admitted he intervened personally to rescue protege Romain Grosjean's F1 career at the end of last year. Lotus openly considered ousting the French driver, after he was banned by the FIA in Monza and angrily denounced a 'first lap nutcase' by rival Mark Webber. But countryman Boullier thought Grosjean, in spite of his tumultuous 2012, deserved another chance. "This is a boy who has the privilege of being one of the fastest drivers in the world," he told Le […]

Jenson Button has admitted McLaren is grappling with its new car for 2013. Unlike most other main rivals, notably Red Bull and Ferrari, McLaren - whose British driver Button won the 2012 finale in Brazil - did not simply 'evolve' last year's car for the new season. Red Bull's outspoken Dr Helmut Marko said this week he didn't understand why McLaren changed so much between 2012 and 2013. Mark Webber agrees: "This sport is hard enough - and the cars difficult enough to understand technically […]