02/07/2011
Eric explains his excitement at competing in the home race which, with a new-look Silverstone, should provide for a memorable weekend.
Just the one point in Valencia, the team must have been looking for a stronger weekend?
It was obviously a disappointing weekend, which was not reflective of our level of performance and the level of work and dedication that the team has been putting in. I’m hopeful that we have understood why we didn’t have the right pace and got to the bottom of our problems. We will continue to work closely together, and stick together, to make sure we get stronger and stronger.
There was more overtaking in the race than we had seen in previous years – is that proof that Formula One has become a better spectacle this year?
Yes, I know there were a lot of comments in the media about the Valencia race. Perhaps it was not as dramatic as some of the others this season, but still I think it was a good show and we definitely had an excellent level of reliability from all the team’s cars this weekend. It’s clear, however, that not every race can be as hectic as the one we saw in Montreal.
Looking ahead to the British Grand Prix, what would it mean to have a strong race here on home turf?
I think it’s important as an English company, and as an English F1 team, to do well at your home race because there’s more local attention. It’s also a tough fight because most teams on the grid are English as well, so it makes it even more exciting. The Silverstone track layout is very good, and we’ve seen many overtaking manœuvres here in the past so we can expect a strong show and a spectacular race. Obviously we are looking forward to seeing the new complex, which should make this event an even greater success.
Regarding the new regulations – about the engine mapping - what effect will this have from Silverstone?
It’s a complicated issue and difficult to state their exact impact just yet. What’s certain is that we need to anticipate the changes to the regulations in the best way we can. It will definitely affect every single team, and it’s up to us and our engineers to cope better than our competitors with the changes.
Silverstone is known for its fast corners – will that suit the car well?
Considering the races in Monaco and Valencia and our performance there, we can definitely expect the high speed corners to suit our car much better.
We’re eight races into the season – what’s your verdict of Lotus Renault GP’s year so far?
My feelings are quite mixed; we had a very strong start to the season with a couple of podiums, but obviously we have now had a few races where we haven’t performed as well as we need to. We know we have to react well; we think we have a clear understanding of what may have gone wrong and we’ve started to correct it. If our car was so good at the beginning of the season, we must be able to get that level of performance back for the remaining 11 races. Now is a good time to really, really push and comprehend why we haven’t been able to keep our pace relative to the other teams on the grid.
Credit: Lotus Renault GP (www.lotusrenaultgp.com)
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