Lotus Renault aims for a title in three years

The Lotus Renault team – formerly Renault F1 – has not achieved the ultimate glory since 2006 when Fernando Alonso won the drivers’ championship and the team won the constructors’ title. The team’s last victory dates back to 2008, when Fernando Alonso triumphed at Fuji during the Japanese Grand Prix.

For several years, and notably since its acquisition by Genii Capital in 2010, the team has been rebuilding. The last step in this restructuring was the recruitment of a driver capable of winning races and titles, Kimi Räikkönen. Lotus Renault decided to place a young driver, Romain Grosjean, alongside him, with the objective of aiming for the title in the coming years.

«The plan is to be world champions within two or three years,» Boullier said in Paris during a press conference.

The LRGP team had taken a gamble this season in designing its car to try to be at the front, with exhausts blowing towards the front. But it wasn’t as effective as expected and it ultimately somewhat ruined the team’s season because the development of the R31 became difficult.

The team should be a little more cautious for 2012, even though the new car shouldn’t be conventional either. The objective will be to provide a car capable of competing for podiums and even victories for Kimi Räikkönen and Romain Grosjean.

These two men are now the spearheads of the team based in Enstone, unlike Robert Kubica whose contract with LRGP would come to an end at the end of 2011. Eric Boullier hopes to be able to continue a working relationship with Kubica, but for now, nothing is set.

We are waiting for Robert to understand what his plans are. We would like to sit around a table with him and his manager to see what can be done for him to return to F1. If we can help him return to F1, we will, but we have already signed our drivers for next year and we want to stick to that, explained the Team Principal of the Lotus Renault team to BBC Sport.

The Polish driver could have benefited from the Lotus team’s infrastructure to continue his recovery for a comeback, but no longer being associated with the team, all of this is now uncertain.

«We need to discuss on a more global plan to see what he can do and if he wants to connect with us in the long term, » added the Frenchman.

According to the Italian magazine Gazzetta dello Sport, Kubica’s future might not be with Lotus Renault but rather with Scuderia Ferrari, with whom he is reportedly in talks. The Italian team could help him get back in shape to potentially replace Felipe Massa starting in 2013 and race alongside his friend Fernando Alonso.