Lotus F1 team principal Eric Boullier says they are ready to 'play with the big boys' in Formula 1 this year.

The Enstone team was the first to reveal its 2013 challenger yesterday, with Kimi Raikkonen and Romain Grosjean onhand to unveil the new E21.

What they revealed was a car similar in appearance to last year's E20, a result of barely altered regulations, but that didn't stop Boullier from being incredibly bullish about the season ahead.

"I think it is fair to say that great things are possible," the Frenchman said.

"The leap we made from 2011 to 2012 showed what we are capable of. Add to this the continuity and potential of our driver line-up and we have a very powerful cocktail for the season ahead.

"Our ambitious plan to turn ourselves into one of the top teams in F1 is coming to fruition and now we need to harness this with strong and regular podium results."

Boullier is confident that 2013 will be the year that Lotus really announces itself as a major contender.

"We are lean and hungry," he said. "Enstone knows how to win championships, but it is a while since we have won one, so we are very eager to taste glory again.

"We have a fantastic facility at Enstone, and one which has benefitted from significant and strategic investment over the past couple of years. We have a highly accomplished technical and design team who, last year, produced a fantastic car, the E20. The E21 builds on this.

"We also have a superb driver line-up with the 2007 champion, Kimi, and a hungry young gun in Romain. We have further strength in our partners and we are certainly primed and ready for action."

Boullier added that nothing less than an improvement on last year's fourth place finish in the Constructors' Championship would do.

"We want to do better than we did last year," he said.

"2012 was a good season for us - certainly in the context of the previous season - but we, like every team in this highly competitive sport, want to win. We want to make regular appearances on the podium, and add to our tally of appearances on the top step."

source

Lotus team boss Eric Boullier echoed everyone around him at the team's 2013 launch on Monday by claiming that that winning was the only goal for the new season, but added that its strong driver was a key factor in that ambition.

While retaining Kimi Raikkonen was something of a no-brainer for the Enstone squad after his strong return to the top flight netted a win amongst seven podium finish, there was more deliberation over whether Romain Grosjean deserved a place in the line-up after a mercurial campaign that deliver blinding speed and a combination of good finishes and first lap accidents.

In the end, the Frenchman was confirmed alongside Raikkonen for a second term, and Boullier insists that his inclusion will only help serve the team well.

“We know that both drivers work well together and their skills and talents complement each other,” he reasoned, “Kimi has such a wide range of experience and knows how to react to any situation or circumstance. He's also a superb resource technically, [while] Romain has superb raw speed which we are confident will be harnessed in a more effective manner during races in 2013.

“Both are competitive individuals - as racing drivers are - and this pushes each one of them, and the team, to better things. It was clear how much we benefitted from having two very talented drivers in 2012 and I can only see this getting even better in 2013.”

'Getting better in 2013', of course, means improving on the positions occupied at the end of 2012, where Raikkonen finished third in the individual standings behind Sebastian Vettel and Fernando Alonso, and Lotus filled fourth spot in the teams' ranking.

“We want to do better than we did last year,” Boullier agreed, “2012 was a good season for us - certainly in the context of the previous season - but we, like every team in this highly competitive sport, want to win. We want to make regular appearances on the podium, and add to our tally of appearances on the top step.”

source