Lotus F1’s aim for team continuity saves Romain Grosjean’s career – Formula 1 news
Eric Boullier, who is the team principal of Lotus F1, has admitted that one of the reasons that they retained Romain Grosjean is because they wanted team continuity as they enter the 2013 F1 season.
“Continuity is a significant factor in a racing team,” Boullier said. “Driver changes bring unrest. Take a look at how stable the driver pairings at the top teams have been in recent years – Ferrari, Red Bull, McLaren. This is no accident. It takes time
and energy to fuse the working methods of drivers and teams.”
Boullier added that the team is optimistic about the driver’s future in F1.
“Cohesion, courage, speed, freshness,” he said telling the reasons why the team retained Grosjean. “And if he develops properly, he can be made not only a grand prix winner, but also a world champion. If he develops the way we want, then soon he will be
one of the top five F1 drivers.”
Boullier has also admitted that they kept Grosjean because of his positive attitude towards accepting his mistakes due to which he was under speculation.
Grosjean had been under pressure that the team might drop him for the upcoming season but shortly after his win of the individual event at Race of Champions (ROC), he was confirmed by Lotus F1 for 2013. The driver was involved in many first lap crashes this
past season which overshadowed his three podium positions for the team and eighth position in the drivers’ championship. Following his crash at Spa, he was also given an unusual race ban by the race stewards.
The French driver admitted that the reason for his mistakes during 2012 was his wrong objective. He said that the team has made it clear to him that they expect him to complete races in the next season. He said that he is ready to learn from his mistakes
and continue what he was doing right.
Boullier added that mistakes are also committed by drivers who have won championships even if they do it not so often but he wants Grosjean to be competitive right from the beginning of the new season.
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