Eric Boullier, who has served as the McLaren F1 racing director for many years, has resigned from the team. The news comes just days before the British Grand Prix. The change is just the first step in what McLaren hopes will be a major restructuring of the team in hopes of returning to former glory.
Boullier got his start in motorsport engineering with the Racing Engineering team in it’s World Series by Nissan programme back in 2002. The following year he advanced to become technical director of the DAMS team. Five years later he was appointed the CEO of Gravity Sport Management.
This was the break that landed him a career in Formula One. In 2010, he was given the position as team principal of Renault F1, largely because the team had been purchased by Genii Capital, which was led by Gerard Lopez, who was a main backer of Gravity Sport Management. Boullier remained with the team when they transitioned from Renault to Lotus. He resigned from the team in the 2014 pre-season to take on the role of racing director at McLaren, who were undergoing major management changes.
Unfortunately for Boullier, the team was destined to sink, as they changed to the hugely unreliable Honda power unit the following year. It wasn’t until this year that the team finally ditched the Honda power unit and decided to team up with Renault. But the pressure has been high this season for McLaren to perform and they have often looked foolish compared to Toro Rosso, who took the Honda engines.
Zak Brown, the new CEO of McLaren Racing, believes that management is to blame for McLaren’s downfall and hopes that the changes will bring the team back to the front of the grid:
“The performance of the MCL33 in 2018 has not met the expectations of anyone at McLaren, especially our loyal fans. This is not the fault of the hundreds of committed and hard-working men and women at McLaren. The causes are systemic and structural, which require major change from within. With today’s announcement, we start to address those issues head on and take the first step on our road to recovery.”
Boullier’s resignation is just one of the many changes happening at McLaren. Simon Roberts, who is currently McLaren Racing’s chief operating officer, will now manage the production, engineering and logistics of the team. McLaren’s head of race operations, Andrea Stella, will be taking on the role of the team’s Performance Director for trackside operations, while Gil de Ferran takes the role of Sporting Director.
It’s not known what lies ahead for Eric Boullier. “I am very proud to have worked with such a brilliant team over the past four years, but I recognise now is the right time for me to step down,” he explained. “I want to wish everyone at McLaren the best for the remainder of the season and for the future.”
