Éric René Boullier (born 9 November 1973) is a French

motor racing An engine or motor is a machine designed to convert one or more forms of energy into mechanical energy. Available energy sources include potential energy (e.g. energy of the Earth's gravitational field as exploited in hydroelectric power gene ...

engineer and manager. He was the racing director of the McLaren F1 Team from 2014 to 2018. During the 2010 to 2013 seasons, he was the team principal of

Lotus F1 Lotus F1 Team was a British Formula One racing team. The team competed under the Lotus name from until , following the renaming of the former Renault in Formula One, Renault team based at Enstone in Oxfordshire. The Lotus F1 Team was majority ...

, and was vice chairman of

Formula One Teams Association The Formula One Teams Association (FOTA) was a group of Formula One teams that formed at a meeting in Maranello on 29 July 2008. The organisation was formed to give the teams a united voice in negotiations with the FIA and the Formula One Gro ...

(FOTA) until it was disbanded after six years.

Career

Boullier is a graduate of the French Institut Polytechnique des Sciences Appliquées engineering school where he studied aeronautical and spacecraft engineering. In 2002, he took the position of chief engineer with the Spanish Racing Engineering team, in charge of its

World Series by Nissan The World Series Formula V8 3.5, formerly the World Series by Nissan from 1998 to 2004, the Formula Renault 3.5 Series from 2005 to 2015 and the Formula V8 3.5 in 2016 and 2017, was a motor racing series promoted by RPM Racing (1998–2004) and R ...

programme. In early 2003, he moved to the French

DAMS A dam is a barrier that stops or restricts the flow of surface water or underground streams. Reservoirs created by dams not only suppress floods but also provide water for activities such as irrigation, human consumption, industrial use, ...

team to become the managing and technical director, including the A1 Team France operation. At the end of 2008, Boullier became the CEO of Gravity Sport Management, where he was in charge of many young drivers including

Ho-Pin Tung Ho-Pin Tung (; born December 4, 1982) is a Dutch-born racing driver who races with a Chinese license. Career Tung was born in Velp, Gelderland, Netherlands, to Chinese parents with ancestry tracing to Wenzhou, Zhejiang Province. Tung starte ...

, Adrien Tambay, Jérôme d'Ambrosio and Christian Vietoris. After the season, the Renault F1 team was bought-into by investment company Genii Capital. One of Genii's leading figures is Gerard Lopez, who is a major backer of Gravity Sport. On 5 January 2010, Boullier was announced as the new team principal, despite never having worked in Formula One before. The Renault F1 team finished fifth in the World Constructors' Championship in and, following Renault's withdrawal, the newly named Lotus Renault GP team finished fifth in the World Constructors' Championship in . For 2012, Boullier remained as team principal, which was renamed again to Lotus F1 Team. He continued in that role for the 2013 season. On 24 January 2014, Boullier resigned as Team Principal for

Team Limited. Gérard Lopez assumed responsibilities as

Team Principal with immediate effect. On 29 January 2014, Boullier was appointed racing director of the

McLaren McLaren Racing Limited ( ) is a British auto racing, motor racing team based at the McLaren Technology Centre in Woking, Surrey, England. The team is a subsidiary of the McLaren Group, which owns a majority of the team. McLaren is best known a ...

Formula One racing team under Ron Dennis, chairman and chief executive officer of McLaren Group. The announcement was made as part of a larger senior management overhaul at McLaren Group's racing unit. On 4 July 2018 he announced his resignation from McLaren Racing. In February 2019, Boullier joined the

French Grand Prix The French Grand Prix (), formerly known as the Grand Prix de l'ACF (Automobile Club de France), is an auto race held as part of the Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile's annual Formula One World Championship. It is one of the oldest ...

organization as strategic sports and operational advisor and ambassador, and was named managing director in January 2020.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Boullier, Eric 1973 births Living people People from Laval, Mayenne Institut Polytechnique des Sciences Avancées alumni French motorsport people French automotive engineers A1 Grand Prix people Formula One team principals Motorsport agents French sports agents McLaren people Renault people Sportspeople from Mayenne