Eric Boullier: Lotus Renault GP going to rival top running teams of 2011 Formula 1 season
Lotus Renault GP’s boss Eric Boullier has said that the team is going to rival Ferrari and Red Bull Racing in the 2011 Formula 1 season.
“We spent a lot of time thinking about it and discussing it, as it was a risk. But in the end we said 'Why not?' It's too early to say if we can win races; it will be hard to be there with Red Bull and Ferrari. But they will be our main rivals,” Boullier
told the media.
Renault’s new car ‘R31’ is looking pretty good according to the pre-season test session results but these results only provide data for the teams to perform during the season and cannot be relied upon entirely.
Therefore, in order to analyse the actual pace of each team’s respective new car, teams would have to wait until the season opening race that is scheduled to take place in Australia on 27 March, 2011.
Since Mercedes GP and McLaren are also making some progress, it means that there are going to be 5 top running teams in the new season if Renault joins the lot as well.
Boullier stated that Renault is already performing better than both Mercedes and McLaren but consistency is going to be the main challenge for his team in the new season.
“I very much respect Ross Brawn, Mercedes and McLaren and I know they have greater resources,” he said. “If we can stay ahead of them it will be a great success for us.”
According to the two-time world champion Fernando Alonso, Renault and Team Williams are going to be a serious threat to the top running teams in 2011 season.
Lotus Renault GP will have Nick Heidfeld and Vitaly Petrov as their main drivers for the new season with Bruno Senna as their test driver. The Enstone-based team will use Renault engines in their cars in 2011.
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