Boullier shrugs off upset in Monaco

Lotus team principal Eric Boullier believes the random nature of Formula One this year will ease – hopefully after his team have made it seven different winners from the opening seven races.

The Enstone-based team’s celebrations of their 500th grand prix on May 27 turned sour around Monaco as early practice and qualifying pace suggested they would be the ones to make it six from six.

Instead, Romain Grosjean crashed out before the first corner and Kimi Raikkonen could only finish ninth.

It has since been a case of picking up the pieces for Boullier ahead of next Sunday’s Canadian Grand Prix.

“Yes, we are coming off the back of a disappointing race in Monaco, but we’ve shrugged off worse setbacks than that,” Boullier said.

“Put simply, we didn’t ac-hieve the results we wanted, or the results it looked like we should have had. But, we can’t get too hung up on this. It was one weekend in 20, and hopefully we can deliver better in the remaining 14 races.”

Next up is Canada, a potential lottery of a grand prix given the proliferation of safety cars over the years, notably last season when there were five as torrential rain led to the longest race in F1 history.

Asked if Lotus could make it seven different winners this season, Boullier replied: “Let’s hope so. A pattern should begin to emerge before too long. Our 500th race may not have been one of our best, but I hope the 501st is.”