2011 Chinese Grand Prix Review : Tech Talk with James Allison (Team Lotus)

A word with the Boss :  Eric Boullier

Eric, a second podium for LRGP in Sepang – what a great way to start the season… 

Yes, it’s very rewarding for all of us in the team and shows once again that all the effort and hard work over the winter has paid off.

How pleased are you to see Nick bounce back after his troubles in Melbourne? 

I’m delighted with Nick’s result in Sepang, which is the perfect way to put the difficult race in Melbourne behind him. We never doubted his speed, but he just needed to have a normal weekend where he could realise his potential.

Although it’s early days, the R31 has sown a lot of promise already this season… 

It’s true. Two races, two podiums! But what is more important is that these podiums came on two very different tracks with two different drivers. It shows that we have a car that is quite adaptable. It also confirms that we can count on both our drivers to race hard and fight for podiums.

Can the team keep up the momentum in China this weekend? 

I think so. If we can have a clean weekend with both cars then hopefully we can be pushing for good points or even another podium – why not?

What have you made of the racing so far this year under the new regulations? 

I think the new rules have really added some spice to the strategy. In fact, it’s much tougher to plan the strategy from the pit wall and keep track of what everybody is doing in terms of tyres. Also the rear wing means that if you can get close enough, overtaking is now possible. I expect we will see a lot more overtaking using the DRS in China. 

Tech Talk with James Allison 

Two podiums in a row for LRGP – you must be a happy man? 

I’m happy for the entire team. It’s been a mega effort and I feel we’ve really got the most out of the car in the last two races. Also, the car has scored podiums on two very different tracks and has performed well in the temperate conditions of Melbourne and the heat of Sepang. It all bodes well for the season ahead.

We saw the R31 demonstrate good race pace in Sepang - arguably stronger than its qualifying pace – what is you verdict? 

We’ve seen that twice now. It was a characteristic of last year’s car that it performed well on high fuel and the same seems to be true of the R31. But we still have work to do on both qualifying and race pace before we can call ourselves properly competitive.

The race in Sepang was full of action, largely due to the tyres and the impact of the DRS. How was it from the pit wall? 

Calling a race like that is a very difficult job for our Strategist and Chief Engineer. To get all the major decisions right is really challenging, and I’m glad that I don’t have to do it! It was good to see lots of overtaking and I think the FIA got the DRS settings just about right in Sepang. For China, they will need to choose the DRS activation point carefully because the DRS straight is around three hundred metres longer compared to Sepang.

What are your expectations for China? Will be LRGP fighting at the front once again? 

I certainly hope so and it’s a circuit that should suit our car. We brought a reasonable upgrade package to Malaysia and will have some more aero tweaks for China. 

Did You Know 

The Shanghai International Circuit design was inspired from the Chinese character ‘shang’ - the first character in the name of the host city, which means “above” or "ascend”.