Mike Krack, team principal of Aston Martin, has stated clearly that the this weekend’s Formula One Abu Dhabi Grand Prix is about focusing on themselves.
Photo Credit: Aston Martin Aramco Cognizant F1 Team
During the majority of the season, Aston Martin held a commanding lead over McLaren in the standings. That being said, the Woking team is now fourth place in the Constructors’ World Championship, having overtaking the Silverstone-based squad following a strong performance at the United States Grand Prix. It came after double podiums in Japan and Qatar (+1-3 in the sprint).
With just the season finale at Yas Marina remaining, Aston have closed the gap to 11 points, thanks to fifth for Lance Stroll and eighth spot for Fernando Alonso in Las Vegas — that was despite a first-lap, turn 1 spin for the two-time World Champion.
When asked whether the team’s strategy will be based on defeating McLaren, Krack responded that the team’s primary goal is to attain its highest possible performance.
“For me, it doesn’t change anything, compared to two or three races ago. We can only influence what we do ourselves.
“The first bit is we have to have a fast car in Abu Dhabi because we are behind. So it’s something that we are not on the defence, we have to go flat out, and then we see. We have to do the best possible, and then we see what is the result.”
Asked about the team’s apparent recovery over the last two races after getting lost while testing out various aero packages and updates, Krack brushed off the claim by saying:
“We were not lost before.
“I think it will be maybe arrogant to say we are on top of everything. I said it many times, the cars are very complex. I think there is a lot to learn still for us. So I will not say that we are on top of everything. But we have learned a lot this year.”
Lance Stroll improved Aston Martin’s chances of finishing in fourth place due to his strong efforts; he placed fifth at both Interlagos and Las Vegas.
On Saturday, he started from P19 on the grid because of a 5-place grid penalty. After avoiding the chaos at the first turn ended, he ended up gaining 10 positions on the first lap.
He would also overtake the Williams’s and benefit from Russell’s penalty to secure another strong result.
“It was a good race, but it was also a good race two weeks ago,” Krack commented on Stroll.
“I think the key today was to have a good understanding of the tyres, and the strategy. It was always the plan to do something like what we did there.”
“There was a little bit of luck involved in the beginning to make a lot of positions. When you look at who had how many hards left and who didn’t, with the exception of Esteban, everybody who did not have two sets went out of the points.” he added.
After an unexpected streak of dissatisfaction caused by an abundance of technical issues and incidents, as well as a lack of pace versus Alonso, the team principal confirmed that Stroll had regained his confidence.
“What happens is he’s beginning to get confidence, the results are coming, and then you get more confident,” said Krack.
“He was out in Q2 yesterday, but it was not a drama, because he builds this confidence. These are things that you cannot measure, really.”
“It’s nice to see that he managed the tyres really well today, and then could pass some people. So, I think, all in all, when you put all this together, then the results come.”
He concluded by talking about Alonso’s first-lap blunder as he spun trying to pass Logan Sargeant into turn 1.
“He just said he got surprised by the low grip, and turned around, but I don’t know if it was oil related or dust.”
“It was really, really tricky. I don’t know what happened with Lando later, but it seemed to me also like something. The tyre pressure was still low. Already the laps to the grid, for all the drivers were really, really difficult.”
