Team Principal Eric Boullier has over a decade’s experience in top-line motorsport.
Having graduated in 1999, he quickly put his engineering skills to good use as he joined DAMS as a race engineer to work on their F3000 and Le Mans programmes.

By 2002 he was working for Racing Engineering as Chief Engineer, helping the team win the World Series by Renault. A move to management soon followed as Eric returned to DAMS in 2003 both as Managing and Technical Director to oversee the team’s activities in various categories including the GP2 Series.

In 2007 he was appointed as Team Principal for A1GP Team France and led the squad to the series title in 2008.

At the start of the 2010 season, the he was appointed Team Principal of Renault F1 Team and also took on the role of Managing Director during the season.

In 2011 he headed up Lotus Renault GP and continued to lead the Enstone-based outfit under its new identity of Lotus F1 Team in 2012, overseeing a successful season in which the squad took ten podiums including its first win since the 2008 Japanese Grand Prix.

How are you looking forward to 2013 and what do you hope can be achieved?

I think it is fair to say that great things are possible. The leap we made from 2011 to 2012 showed what we are capable of. Add to this the continuity and potential of our driver line-up and we have a very powerful cocktail for the season ahead. Our ambitious plan to turn ourselves into one of the top teams in Formula 1 is coming to fruition and now we need to harness this with strong and regular podium results.

What advantages does the team have compared to its championship rivals?

We are lean and hungry. Enstone knows how to win championships, but it is a while since we have won so we are very eager to taste glory again. We have a fantastic facility at Enstone and one which has benefitted from significant and strategic investment over the past couple of years. We have a highly accomplished technical and design team who last year produced a fantastic car, the E20. The E21 builds on this. We have a superb driver line-up with the 2007 champion, Kimi, and a hungry young gun in Romain. We have further strength in our partners and we are certainly primed and ready for action.

How do you see the driver dynamic evolving through the course of the season?

We know that both drivers work well together and their skills and talents complement each other. Kimi has such a wide range of experience and he knows how to react to any situation or circumstance. He’s also a superb resource technically. Romain has superb raw speed which we are confident will be harnessed in a more effective manner during races in 2013. Both are competitive individuals – as racing drivers are – and this pushes each one of them and the team to better things. It was clear how much we benefitted from having two very talented drivers in 2012 and I can only see this getting even better in 2013.

Where does the team’s focus lie in 2013?

It is certainly an interesting year. On the one hand, we have the season ahead and the very strong desire to achieve great things. On the other hand, we have significant technical changes around the corner in 2014 and an element of resource will naturally be focused on this area. On the track we want to achieve the very best results possible and this is true off track too. In every element of our operations we want to be the best.

Are there formal targets for 2013 and what are they?

We want to do better than we did last year. 2012 was a good season for us – certainly in the context of the previous season – but we, like every team in this highly competitive sport, want to win. We want to make regular appearances on the podium, and add to our tally of appearances on the top step.