Boullier: Grosjean just “frustrated” despite radio row

2013 Korean Grand Prix

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Lotus team principal Eric Boullier says a frustrated Romain Grosjean learned an important lesson after losing second place to Kimi Raikkonen in today’s race.

Raikkonen passed Grosjean for second place on the lap after the first restart. Boullier said Grosjean made a mistake, after which the Lotus driver repeatedly told the team Raikkonen was holding him up.

Boullier came on Grosjean’s radio at one point and told him to “keep racing like it is”.

After the race in another radio message from a different team member which was partially censored Grosjean was told: “We’ll talk about this in the office afterwards but for now big ******* smile on the podium, big ******* smile.”

Boullier said: “Romain gets frustrated obviously because he did a small mistake on the restart after the Safety car and Kimi just passed him.”

“I think he was begging some team orders to let him past but he has a mistake and it was a normal racing time.”

“I think he could have been quicker but he was a little upset and he lost concentration so it’s just part of his learning curve,” Boullier added.

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    81 comments on “Boullier: Grosjean just “frustrated” despite radio row”

    1. I can see where he’s coming from. A couple of races this year (Britain and Germany, I think) saw Romain being asked to pull over for Kimi because Kimi was quicker, so I guess he expected something similar this time. But I’m not sure how much quicker Romain was than Kimi. Anyway, good to see him on the podium, he seems to be much cleaner this year than last.

      1. what was the mistake that Romain made which allowed Kimi past?

        1. Well in those races you mentioned Kimi was clearly faster than Romain, and at the time, Kimi was fighting for the WDC. Kimi could have moved past Romain in those races even without team orders. However, on this race, I don’t think Romain is really quicker than Kimi to be able to move past him. Kimi is losing his tyres at the latter laps, but the gap is constantly at 1.4s so I don’t know why they are saying that Romain is quicker. As for Romain begging for team orders, come on mate, you’re not on the run for the championship! Just race!

        2. Cold tyres, not speed problems

          1. He went abit on the astroturf, in the penultimate corner

        3. have a close look at 4th-6th second of the video for the mistake..
          http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_z1EGJY0x9A

      2. Where’s the mistake in those occasions besides it’s not like Romain was ever fighting for the championship and the team’s subsistence.

    2. Lotus is now clearly backing Romain, but reluctant to give order to Kimi. or team radio giving us something unheard of? Eric is showing a bit irritated gesture, and Kimi just giving a flat emotion…

      1. @adityafakhri
        I like Grosjean and I was annoyed he lost 2nd to Raikkonen but if the team just told Raikkonen to let him back through then it’s just insulting to Grosjean; the 2nd place would be A LOT sweeter if he had to work for it rather than have it handed to him… also good for him in the long run, he won’t develop a sense of entitlement.

        1. True, but he was their best shot at a win (if he could catch Vettel on equal tyres and 6 laps newer than Kimi). But, after the SC had eroded his strategy of having fresher tyres than Vettel for the last stint (his RF looked worn), he probably couldn’t have caught and passed Vettel. Vettel did have the pace to answer anything behind him most probably. Lewis had good pace but lost his tyres trying to apply it in frustration.

          1. He didn’t have fresher tyres than Vettel. They pitted within seconds of each other just after the safety car was called to action.

      2. Finally I’d say. To be fair, Kimi usually was faster than him on Sundays and slower on Saturdays but Romain is now being consistently faster than him on qualy day and as fast as him on race day.

        1. So, Lotus would be bang on if they gave team orders against a world champion?
          I don’t think Grosjean could have caught Vettel. Also, he was tremendously inconsistent behind Raikkonen, failing to keep up the pressure continuously.

          1. @wsrgo I’m not saying they should tell Kimi to let Romain go, I just said Lotus has been too focused on Kimi and sometimes they need to share better their attention.

        2. Too focus on Kimi?? Maybe thats why Kimi was getting loose seat at Singapore that cause his back pain?? And a broken front wing in Korean gp during Q3.

          Face it, when kimi struggle, he still finished there or thereabout. When Romain struggle, he is nowhere. The same is true for Alonso who im a big fan of. That’s why i root for both Kimi and Fernando.

      3. Grosjean was kinda expecting equal treatment in the team, because he did let Kimi through with no complaints in GB and Germany.

        1. He actually didn’t let Kimi through in Germany, even though he was asked to. And in that race Kimi could have passed Vettel if Grosjean did let him through, I don’t think Grosjean could have caught Vettel in this race anyway.

        2. When team asked romain to let kimi go in which he didn’t did it reluctantly, kimi was much much faster than him.

          Romain simply wasnt faster than Kimi in this race.

        3. LOL, read the transcripts starting from lap 52 in Germany and you can see just how willingly Romain obeyed the team order… it took him many laps before he finally let Kimi through. So I wouldn’t count Germany as a race with team orders, at least not with effective team orders.

          https://www.racefans.net/2013/07/11/2013-german-grand-prix-team-radio-transcript/

      4. And I can clearly imagine what Kimi would say to being told ” dont hold Romain up- hes faster than you”
        “Get Stuffed”

    3. I think had the fire marshals jeep not come out onto the track and causing the second SC, I think Roman was on course to re-overtake Raikkonen. He could possibly be angry at the fact that he was unfairly pushed out of his position, and that he wanted it back. Also, whenever Raikkonen has been only slightly faster than Roman, Roman has been told to move out of the way. Maybe he was hoping for the same.

      1. The second safety car was caused by webber’s flaming red bull. Get it straight.

        1. If that was the case, then why did they wait an entire lap to call it out?

        2. Definitely not. Webber’s car was well off the racing line so unlikely that a safety car would have been called because of that.

          1. SC conditions were imposed to allow the fire truck access to Webber’s car.

      2. Romain had been asked to move out because KiMi was fighting for the WDC and clearly faster than him. For example in Germany KiMi was on softs when romain was asked to move out of the way.

        1. A good point, but it would still probably have been going through the mind of Grosjean.

      3. maybe i’m wrong, but it seemed the man that was unfairly pushed almost out of the track – was Kimi Räikkönen. Grosjean was manouvering towards him to the left leaving him almost unsufficient space on the track… part of the learning curve for Grosjean was today that he almost messed up 33 points in the constructors…

        1. He left racing room and even a bit more, it was completely legitimate. Why wouldn’t he fight it?

          1. Chris (@tophercheese21)
            6th October 2013, 14:21

            I was a tad marginal, but still committed no offence.

            1. It’s ‘bad etiquette’ (and risky) to make a defensive move after the car behind has pulled out to overtake. But not technically against the rules.

      4. I think the team orders have happened only twice this year: in Silverstone and Germany, and on both occasions Kimi was able to challenge for the win. In Germany Kimi’s pass on Romain was actually genuine anyway in the end so I don’t think that even really counts. In Silverstone Kimi’s effort was finally destroyed because of the bad strategy decision by the team and in Germany he just wasn’t quite fast enough to pass Vettel. I can’t remember if they had to do team orders in Bahrain this year, they probably didn’t.

        Neither of those couldn’t have been possible for Romain as Kimi was SIGNIFICANTLY faster so the decision were right. This time they wouldn’t have benefited anything from deploying team orders so why do it? Both of them are out of the WDC contention (though Kimi still has a mathematical possibility), so why not let them decide the order through honest racing?

        1. Whether it was right or not doesn’t really have anything to do with it. It was all about Grosjean’s perception of it at the time. I personally don’t think there should have been team orders to allow him back through. I was simply stating that Grosjean probably could have pulled back ahead of Raikkonen if not for the SC (well, fire team jeep), and that he felt aggrieved he wasn’t let back past.

          1. @philereid

            Well it’s what makes the situations different and Grosjean’s perception wrong.

            About Grosjean retaking the place: I don’t think so. They wouldn’t have had the DRS for that lap anyway and Kimi had higher top speed.

            1. @tmekt I agree, Grosjean was wrong.

              Even with the higher top speed of Raikkonen, Grosjean would have had the slip stream of Raikkonen, and the aid of a better exit from one through 2. I think he’d have at least challenged for it, which is what he lost from the SC.

      5. “He could possibly be angry at the fact that he was unfairly pushed out of his position, and that he wanted it back.”

        What was unfair about that move? I dint see any?

        1. Sorry, my wording was a little off. I meant the fact that he lost his position, and when he had a very good chance to get it back on the long straight, the fire team jeep was on the track causing the SC, so he felt aggrieved he couldn’t fight it back which I strongly suggest he probably would have.
          By pushed I don’t mean physically pushed I guess, more ‘pushed’ out of a position to fight back against it.

          1. What?? Jeep wasnt reason for SC,SC was deployed for Webber’s incident. But before Sc was deployed the jeep came in,which btw is a violation of Rules.

            1. Why would the SC come out after the cars have gone by if it was for Webber’s incident? That wouldn’t make sense. The SC came out because of the fire truck which, incidentally, came out for Webber’s burning car.

    4. There is irony in the difference between Grosjean’s drive and Hulkenberg’s drive in this Grand Prix. While Grosjean has improved and matured a lot as a driver, Hulkenberg is a true racer. Sometimes the differences can be subtle, sometimes more dramatic. Could be quite interesting if Hulkenberg does end up with Lotus next season.

      1. It would be a very strong line up, very worthy of a team in Lotus’ position. One of them could be a future WDC (ATM maybe Hulk, with the new regs, who knows!). It is interesting to think how close Hulk could get to Kimi’s points totals.. him and Alonso, along with Vettel are all supremely consistent, with only a handful of errors all season.

    5. He really got screwed by the second Safety Car/Vettel’s lost Booing Bus…
      If it would’ve been out slightly earlier, Raikkonen’s overtake would be deemed illegal.
      If it would’ve been out slightly later, Grosjean might’ve been able to DRS past Raikkonen.

      That was a really weird safety car situation, by the way. As soon as Webber’s car started burning that badly, with such a big smoke-cloud, it should’ve been out… I wonder why they waited so long.

      1. I dont think DRS was allowed just yet there. It wast just after restart.

      2. They could have put it through when no one was looking, way before the cars got back around to another lap (1.5 minutes). Else, wait until all the cars pass and then put the truck on track (after the last backmarker passes T2). Really only the timing was at fault.

        1. The biggest problem was, it just suddenly was there, no flags, no warnings…

          1. True, but it wouldn’t have mattered had it happened off camera (by this I mean outside of the cars, a bit like the medical car following for the first lap). Then, by the time Sutil came round (if he was a long way back of the field) they could have put out the appropriate flag for him to see it.

          2. Also I think they expected the fire marshals to deal with it, perhaps from being on the other side of the car (spraying directly onto the flames). Once it became clear this was not happening and that it could go on for a while and burn the whole car out (and all the black smoke that would have entailed, possibly blocking T3, the fire safety guy took it into his own hands (much to the annoyance of Charlie Whiting!).

      3. @infinitygc Grosjean would not have been able to pass Kimi using DRS in the second straight as DRS is inactive for the first 2 laps after restart.

        1. Hmm, so it seems you’re right!
          I could’ve sworn I saw people so it though…
          Probably just seeing things then!

          1. *”do it”, not “so it”

    6. The different team member is Alan Permane ;)

    7. Get this into the thick head of yours,romain…”KiMi owned you!!!” As simple as that.

      1. Totally agree!

      2. @derfel17
        With all due respect to Raikkonen, I’d hardly call being slower than your teammate in all FP sessions and qualifying 6 places behind him ‘owning’, especially when the only reason he’s even on the podium in the first place was due to the safety car unlike Grosjean who was 2nd for the large majority of the race as well as being the only driver who was able to more or less keep up with Vettel.

        1. For one thing,KiMi was slower in quali in Singapore cz he had a nasty backproblem and In Korea KiMi told the car was understeering a lot which is the opposite of KiMi’s style and along with that there is the front wing damage that limited his chance of a good qualifying.
          But on Race day,its an entirely different story(all the season). Romain is no where near KiMi in the race-craft. And considering the fact that romain was on a fresher set of tyres than KiMi and yet KiMi managed to overtake him,means only one thing. KiMi owned Romain. And that is clear when you look at the fact that romain was crying in the team-radio to let him pass KiMi.

        2. Kimi was doing undercut before first safety car and if I remember correctly, it was bringing him 3rd place anyway. But yeah, no way he would have passed Grosjean.

        3. You dont get points for free practice and qualifying, all of these events are only there to support the actual race, that where you get points. Grosjean has done a great job the whole weekend, no one can deny that, but this is also what makes Kimi so good, he can have a difficult weekend and still get a good result.
          Actually Kimi was already in 3rd place before the first safety car.

          1. @Binoy
            I ruefully question your definition of ‘own’ given that the only reason Raikkonen even had the chance to pass Grosjean was because of the safety car. Please do not bring up past races because they are not relevant to this race, Grosjean was undoubtedly the better driver this weekend overall and that’s the whole point.

            @boudica
            Doesn’t change the fact that Grosjean did a better job than Raikkonen the whole weekend and only got ahead because of the safety car. Likewise for Singapore, Raikkonen took what should have been Grosjean’s podium after his engine broke down.

            1. what a load of **

              The team didn’t confirm the seat is firmly blotted onto the cockpit that cause kimi old injury relapse. So its Kimi fault then he was compromised?? He also qualified with broken front wing in korea FYI.

              The sign is clear Kimi has been treated as no.2, yet he perform like no.1

            2. @Candice

              You expect Raikkonen to still get #1 treatment when he’s moving to Ferrari next year? And whose fault was it that the wing was broken? Oh wait his own, he crashed in FP1 if I must add. I shall not comment on the rest of your post since it makes no sense whatsoever, you’re the one who’s spouting a load of **.

            3. the front wing he crashed in Fp has been replaced since.

              Not sure what are you on???

            4. @woshidavid95 “own” in the sense,he breezed past Romain who was on fresher tyres than KiMi and never looked to be in any trouble from Romain later. And for the quali performance,KiMi had a broken front wing which limited his chances to get a good starting position.
              Romain was better driver?? Lol… If he was better he would have repassed KiMi on those fresher tyres instead of crying in the teamradio to let him pass. And finally,points are won on sundays,not saturdays.

            5. @woshidavid95 Romain’s podium? had he finished,it might have been his podium. But did he finish?? No!! If you start assuming things,then i can also assume things like Had Lotus tightened KiMi’s seat properly he would have qualified ahead of Romain.
              Im not assuming,But the truth is,In Singapore Lotus is responsible for KiMi’s qualifying slump. They didnt fit KiMi’s seat properly that resulted in his back pain. And he almost had to sit out of the race,yet he raced and got on the podium with a stunning overtake on Jenson!!
              Podium…well deserved!!!

          2. @icemannkimii
            Sighs go read my other post… this is a safe assumption as he was already running the race, even Eric Boullier and anyone with a working brain will know that. The same way Massa would have won 2008 Silverstone or Vettel win 2012 Valencia had their cars not given up on them. All I’m gonna say is, look past your fanatical obsession for Raikkojen for one second and acknowledge Grosjean did the better job this weekend; I won’t deny that Raikkonen is usually the better driver and that Grosjean had disappointed a number of times, but not in Korea or Singapore for that matter.

            1. @woshidavid95 Im a KiMi fan,but im not obsessed. Romain had a better weekend than KiMi,for sure. KiMi didnt have the perfect weekend thanks to the broken front wing in Quali. If you dont remember KiMi was P1 in Q2.
              Analyse it fully.
              Romain had no problems in Quali and made it to P4.
              KiMi had a front wing damage,qualified P10.
              Race:
              Romain made a brilliant move on Lewis in the first lap,from then on he was in clear air,and had no problems with the first pitstop,came out behind Vettel again.
              KiMi had an okay start,had to slow down to avoid a “Spinning massa”. Made his way through the traffic,Overtook a couple of cars,was running in P5 before the 1st pitstop. A late pitstop,and a crappy one at that saw him loosing his hard earned places and coming behind Alonso again. Was running behind Hulk and Alonso for the major part of second stint,thanks to Lotus pitstop.
              And then he pitted again,this time it was perfect and he undercut couple of cars and was in P3,before the safety car.
              Safety car levels the field.
              Restart,KiMi overtakes Romain..keeps the position.
              And you say romain had a better weekend,yes..he did. He never had to face any problems KiMi faced. But on race pace,KiMi was way better if you look at all the facts.
              You my friend are only looking at the safety car that leveled the field.
              But for a fair analysis,you should look at
              – KiMi slowng down to avoid Massa.
              – late pitstop that made him loose all the positions he earned.

              But no,you just wont. You’ll be more interested in hiding these facts and call me a fan who is obsessed with KiMi.

            2. @icemannkimii
              Well it certainly looks like it and I’m not sure where you got that broken front wing from, all I know is that Raikkonen crashed out of FP1 and even admitted that he himself screwed up Q3.

              So my point is, Raikkonen did a good job in the race, but overall Grosjean did a better job and as such deserves more credit for this weekend which he isn’t getting.

      3. That’s a dirty statement (much like Paul Hembrey’s). Romain showed a better class all through the weekend. Although it wasn’t fair to tell Kimi to let him past without a fight but his frustration is justified if you consider races like Britain and Germany this year.

        1. well Neel Jani, Kimi has owned Romain in the races all year. just cuz he is leaving doesn’t mean he is gonna let his teammate beat him..

        2. You are not looking at the full picture,my friend. Like i said before,the tyre spec change has hurt KiMi badly. In FP’s KiMi was looking more into the race pace,than setting the fastest time. His last lap in FP3 was a 1.44.810 on a set of Supersofts that was 18 laps old,only vettel managed to do the similar times with Old softs. And then there is the broken front wing in Q3,that limited KiMi’s chances of a good starting position.

          Coming to your comments about Britian and Germany,KiMi was fighting for WDC back then and clearly he was much more faster. In Germany,he was on Supersofts in his last stint,thats why team asked Romain not to hold up KiMi but he raced KiMi and spoiled those supersofts,before KiMi finally passed Romain.

          Here KiMi overtook Romain on track,how in the world will that make Romain faster than KiMi. In Britain and Germany,KiMi was faster cz he caught Romain with his racepace.

        3. In germany and Uk….kimi was ahead of Romain, but the team acting stupid with strategy and kimi ended up behind romain despite lapping incredibly faster.

          Where was Romain today??? How is TO justified??

    8. It’s funny, cause during the race it looked like he was ordered to overtake Kimi.:DDD

      1. Yep, I agree; I thought Grosjean was saying that he couldn’t overtake Kimi

        1. That is also how I saw it. When asked to try to pass Kimi, Romain distinctly said “No, I can’t!”. Lotus didn’t ask Kimi to let Romain back past him because they didn’t want to be embarrassed by whatever laconic headline grabbing quote that would have ensued. Maybe if Lotus paid their drivers what/when they promised, they could ask them for more favors.

    9. that was quite a lesson Romain got. but u know he must be stupid to think the team would ask Kimi to move aside and if Kimi would do it for him..

      1. But terming it as ‘begging’ as Eric said it seems demeaning.

    10. “Passed”, not “past”?

      1. …Boullier’s excerpt, 5th paragraph.

    11. Lotus were educating Grosjean to become stronger driver, admitting mistake, not a cry baby like the one in red.

    12. Kimi is still in title contention. Grojean is not. That is what it’s all about.

    13. the drivers championship is now dead for lotus, so drivers are racing themselves.
      and grosjean wasnt quicker than kimi because he stayed around 1.5 second gap until the last lap…

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