Boullier talks about a constructive discussion with Grosjean

Errors are made to learn from, and Romain Grosjean’s penalty must serve as a lesson and an opportunity for him to reflect and question himself. It is with this in mind that Eric Boullier had a meeting with his driver on Monday. After the FIA’s decision, it was necessary to have a constructive discussion and try to find and bring to the table elements that would allow for the building or rebuilding of something that may have been broken or, in any case, is not working well, explained the Lotus F1 director on RMC radio Tuesday evening.

The sensitive point of this discussion was the stress management by the young 26-year-old driver, especially at the start or in the first laps of a Grand Prix. This is indeed one of the points that was addressed with Romain. There have been discussions with him to set up a structure or support that allows him to fully manage his life as a driver and at the same time be the increasingly, quote-unquote, public figure, and manage all functions without creating unnecessary stress.

After the collision, Lewis Hamilton seemed quite upset with the Frenchman and made sure to tell him so as he got out of his destroyed McLaren. Similarly, Fernando Alonso pointed out that in 12 races, Grosjean had been involved in 7 start collisions (in reality there are only 4 at the start, editor’s note). But as often, things quickly calm down. They spoke to each other and I can tell you the messages were very positive and cordial. Things have smoothed over. They either spoke directly or exchanged messages, and there’s no animosity or anything, reports Boullier.

In Monza, it’s the third driver of the team, Jérôme D’Ambrosio, who will be behind the wheel of the second car alongside Kimi Räikkönen, but Grosjean will indeed return to his seat in the next race in Singapore at the end of September and this sanction does not endanger his medium or long-term future in Enstone.

« A priori he will be with us next year and for a long time. There are still very few drivers who can boast of having achieved so many podiums in a true first year, even if there were problems and maybe a bit too often collisions, for which he was not always responsible by the way. A majority of the time perhaps, but not all the time. He had a very good season and above all he has enormous potential that the team is looking to exploit and we will do everything to get him back on track. The return will be delicate, that’s for sure. I believe that the discussion we had was extremely constructive and I am sure that it is simply a small grain of sand that we will need to remove and then it’s all good, » declares Boullier in the Moscato Show.