McLaren's Boullier answers your questions

It's a busy afternoon in a cramped and hectic Formula 1 paddock. We've managed to arrange a slot with McLaren's racing director Eric Boullier, but now he's delayed by a call - a theme that will characterise this long day.

When we finally sit down, we ask whether he's ready to answer your questions: "Yes, yes, fine... well, no actually. I have a meeting in 10 minutes that I can't postpone. But don't worry - I'll be available afterwards."

So we suggest a few questions now, before he points out the significance of his meeting. "I can't really tell you about it... but I have a few other teams coming here."

He's then distracted by the key results of F1 Racing's Global Fan Survey, which we have with us.

"You know, this is really interesting. Can I have a copy? Just for me?" When the likes of Christian Horner, Toto Wolff and Maurizio Arrivabene arrive for his meeting, he invites us to share the findings with them.

Alas we're not invited for the whole discussion, one that lasts 80 minutes. Finally, when Boullier emerges, he's ready to talk. Providing there are no further interruptions...

McLaren-Honda have already made huge strides. How much further up the grid seems realistic this season?
Tim Kemmis, USA

Boullier was grilled by AUTOSPORT's sister publication F1 Racing © LAT

It's difficult to answer as we have a long-term plan for the next few years and we have a medium-term plan, which is to make sure the way McLaren-Honda operate is the right way. There is also a short-term plan, in which the basic rule of an F1 team is to bring performance race after race.

Who knows, in Singapore an engineer might wake up with the magic solution to find one second of performance, then we can perhaps be on the podium and win races. We do more than our best and everyone is 100 per cent working flat-out, so let's see what happens by the summer shutdown.

Where do you see the problem at present? Is it the McLaren chassis or the power unit from Honda?
Dave Armstrong, Canada

Erm... sorry, my phone [a quick look at the display shows it's Ron Dennis] - can I stop? [Minutes later, Boullier returns and we do a quick 'Ronspeak' impression to amuse ourselves.]

He's my boss James, so I can't join in [raucous laughter]. To be honest with you, he talks pretty well now. He's demanding but he's also very competitive. He's achieved what he has because he pushes very hard, all the time. [Boullier then moves back to the question...]

I will tell you, the answer is both. The power unit is not yet mature enough in terms of technology, so definitely we are behind Ferrari and Mercedes in power terms. But still, what Honda have achieved in only two years is very impressive as we are not far from Renault.

In terms of chassis, we have a good chassis, the car is good, it's good to drive, the drivers love it. It's even very good in slow corners but it still needs some new development.

It's a new aero concept, a new philosophy, and we've spent the first three months of the season focusing more on R&D. We have brought upgrades to every race, but we didn't bring the 'big one' because we decided to focus more time in the factory on CFD and the windtunnel, to fine-tune what we are doing. Between now and the next few races you'll see a lot of changes, so the performance should grow massively.

A French man in a British team with a Japanese engine partner and a Spanish driver. How do you cope with the different cultures and languages?
Dave Moon, UK

Easy. Being a Frenchman living in England, I have had to learn a new culture. I've also been lucky to work with Japanese people in the past and there are no real issues, to be honest.

F1R: Perhaps the food isn't as good as in France?

EB: It's fine. I know where to eat. Fortunately the pub near my house is very good. It's an old-style English pub, called The Carpenter's Arms [in Sunninghill, Surrey]. It serves French food and it's open seven days a week. Ron loves it; in fact, everyone loves it - it's packed all the time.

Boullier thinks there is no reason not to expect Button at McLaren next season © LAT

Will Jenson Button still be driving for McLaren in 2016?
Chris Balke, UK

So far nothing - how do I put this - nothing to say. There are contracts, there are some options, there is a lot of stuff like this, but so far, why not?

Why are team bosses against refuelling? I would like to see a return to sprint racing and drivers having to push on every single lap of the race.

N Singh, UK

Yes. I'm not sure refuelling is why you would see a return to sprint racing and pushing every single lap, but what I can answer is that all team bosses do want the return of sprint racing and drivers pushing every lap.

Is Jenson faster than Fernando?
Tom Day, UK

Er, it depends which corner...

What is your opinion about having more than one tyre manufacturer competing in the sport?
Harry Heintz, USA

There is some good if you're with the right tyre manufacturer, but the downside is that if one manufacturer is dominating and you're contracted to the wrong one, you are nowhere.

Hi Eric, just how glad were you that you weren't Toto Wolff in Monaco?
Richard Hunte, UK

I couldn't say I was glad, to be honest, because I know the pressure, everything that you build, all the people you manage and situations to manage. It's very difficult to forgive mistakes at this level, but mistakes can happen. So I wouldn't say that I was glad, but I have my own shit to deal with, to be honest, so don't worry.

What is the depth of the MTC pond?
Tanya Simon, Russian Federation

I'll ask Matt Bishop. [Eric gets up to speak to the F1R-editor-turned-McLaren-Group-head-of-comms, who is deep in conversation with Kevin Magnussen and veteran F1 reporter Nigel Roebuck. We see Matt whisper into Eric's ear.]

So, 4.5metres. [Having returned from collecting this piece of information, he notices a missed call, from Ron Dennis.] Oops, sorry, I have to get this - don't record this conversation otherwise you'll be banned for life!

The sometimes-stressed Boullier/Raikkonen combination won with Lotus © LAT

How impressed were you with Kimi Raikkonen at Lotus?
Simon Longley, UK

Ah, I love Kimi! He's an interesting character, to be honest. I have a lot of nice memories with him, I also remember some stress sometimes...

F1R: What... is that in terms of dealing with his behaviour?

EB: Er, no more comment on this one! I might tell you another day, in the pub when you're not recording and if F1 Racing is paying the bill, obviously. I really like Kimi and I was really stunned by his racecraft: it was unbelievable.

Are teams aware of how many fans have stopped watching the sport since the introduction of subscription TV to F1?
Henry Street, UK

Yes we are. But don't ask the teams about this...

Could you get rid of Ron and take over?
George Robinson, UK

[Nervous laughter] This is another good one! So... no. For the simple reason that I am a racing guy and I'm more interested in running the F1 side of the team rather than McLaren's big engineering company. I think Ron has built something... [Eric's phone rings again - guess who?] Ron, you were listening to us!

[During this break F1R and AUTOSPORT columnist Dieter Rencken appears to speak to Eric. He asks if he can ask him a question. We oblige...]

How would McLaren react if the EU started investigating F1 governance?
Dieter Rencken, Belgium

No issue at all.

F1R: Any concerns about what has happened at FIFA happening in F1?

EB: Between what you read and the truth is often a big difference. I think the governance of our sport is quite good. Bernie left the German court case without being found guilty so the answer to Dieter is 'no issue'.

Do Honda have the proper resources to catch up to other engine manufacturers? Do you think the Honda unit will be equal to the Mercedes by this season's end?
Scott Anger, USA

This is the problem called expectation. If I explain a little bit more: Mercedes, Ferrari and Renault started this project four years ago and that was from existing Formula 1 engine organisations. They had three years to prepare the engine and last year all of the engine manufacturers had teething problems. For one of them, that is still ongoing.

Honda decided to come into F1 two years ago and started from scratch. They had no running organisation and it was a big company to build and it's a lot of experience to gain. So what they have achieved in two years is huge and definitely they will catch up with Mercedes. We don't yet know when. In terms of resources, the more they have, the less time it will take to catch up.

What is your utopian vision for F1?
Jack Barber, UK

McLaren dominating all the races... Actually that's not utopian: it's going to happen.

Vandoorne and Magnussen have futures at McLaren, says Boullier © LAT

Will Kevin Magnussen be driving for McLaren again in the future?
Daniel Winther, Denmark

I wish him to drive for McLaren again. I don't know when. [His phone rings.] Can we pause again? Thank you.

After he's finished his call to - you've guessed it - Ron Dennis, the next few minutes are spent with engineering chief Matt Morris. He holds up two pieces of telemetry. The talk is related to straightline performance. It's later confirmed there's a problem with Jenson's engine.

All OK? Only six hours to do one interview - that's alright, isn't it?

Where does Stoffel Vandoorne fit into McLaren-Honda's plans?
Jason Sultana, Malta

He is, along with Kevin Magnussen and Nyck de Vries, one of the drivers we'd like to have one day, but we don't know when. If we can't fit him into McLaren-Honda early enough, we'll do our best to give him an opportunity somewhere else, but still under the McLaren-Honda umbrella.

What skills and qualities of character do you like to see in a driver?
Josh Giese, USA

I like to see a driver who is dedicated 100 per cent. Dedicated 100 per cent to winning and, yes, there need to be some basics, like being fast, obviously.

But the difference between a champion and a non-champion is that a champion dedicates his whole life, and I mean his entire life including his private life, everything, no distraction at all. It's not about the girlfriend, the money... [McLaren COO Jonathan Neale comes over and cryptically says: "I've sent you the information" and then disappears again.] ...and that's the difference between a champion and a non-champion.

You studied aeronautical and spacecraft engineering before moving into motorsport. Was that always your plan?
Wesley Bell, UK

Motorsport, yes. Aeronautical engineering was just to please my parents by getting a diploma. When I was 14 years old I had already got myself into a motorsport paddock.

I was cooking, cleaning tyres, anything I could at Le Mans to get involved. My parents were worried about this travelling life. They asked me to do something serious and so I became an engineer in space.

I chose this because it was the same technology as motorsport, and every holiday or spare weekend, I was back in a paddock.

What are your thoughts on three-car teams? Do you think it will ever happen?
Victoria Palmer, UK

If it helps to make the sport better then I'm in favour of it. It could be a nightmare to run though, as we'd need to double the crew, have two pitstop stations - how would you manage the third car? There are a lot of questions still behind this. I don't think it will ever happen to be honest. But if all the teams did three cars and you could run a rookie championship with the third car, that would be interesting...

How long did it take you to master the language of Ronspeak?
Thomas Guilfoyle, USA

It's impossible!

F1R: How many languages do you speak?

EB: French, English... I understand Spanish very well, but I'm not fluent. And just a little bit of Italian and Ronspeak.