Photo Credits: Aston Martin Aramco Cognizant Formula One Team
Speaking post-race in Montreal, Mike Krack was already looking ahead to the upcoming races. Having seen his team finish runner up in Canada to Red Bull Racing – thanks to the skill of Fernando Alonso – the man leading Aston Martin Aramco Cognizant Formula One Team explained why he feels the upcoming Grands Prix in Austria and Silverstone will provide a ‘better indication’ of how far his team is from the reigning F1 Constructors’ Champions – Red Bull Racing.
Fernando Alonso is very much the man leading the charge for Aston Martin. The Spaniard found his way to the runner up spot yet again in 2023 and this time was just under 10 seconds from the rear wing of current F1 Drivers’ World Champion Max Verstappen, when the chequered flag fell in Canada.
However, the next two Grands Prix feature medium high-speed corners – as opposed to the slow corners of Montreal. Due to this, the question was posed to Aston Martin’s team principal Mike Krack as to whether the makeup of these upcoming circuits gives him reason to worry.
“I’m not concerned because we have seen the latest upgrades seem to work. There is some tracks coming now where you have a lot of high-speed corners, and I think we improved our car in high speed corners,” explained Krack.
The man hoping to also fend off the resurgence of Mercedes-AMG Petronas Formula One Team then went on to explain how he sees the upcoming circuit layouts more as an opportunity to learn about his rivals.
“So we’re looking forward to them because in such circuits, I think we will also see the true strength of the Red Bull, and then we will have a better indication of how far we are away,”
With the latest upgrades added to an already impressive package, Krack was then asked how far away he feels his team is from being able to fully optimise the package.
“That’s a good question. It’s difficult to answer,” came the reply from Krack. “I think, you know, you always when you put new parts on the car you have to do a bit of a relearning. How is your car behaving in different…in different conditions, in different ride heights? so I think, you know, I think we have a lot to learn, and we have to also develop the car further over the next races.”
Time is not on Aston Martin’s side as Mecredes has now leapfrogged them to take P2 in the F1 Constructors’ Championship. However, this weekend in Austria also sees the Sprint format return and this is a format which has been fruitful to Aston Martin in the past. As such, it is little surprise to hear that Mike Krack is excited for another challenge of the sort.
“I’m looking forward for Sprint you know because it’s just more action…but no I think we normally are in good shape on Friday I think also because we know the realities about Sprint weekends, that you must not try to get lost with new parts or any specific tests and try to use as much as possible the session that you have and then from that moment it’s really not making any mistakes on a sprint weekend,” Krack concluded on the matter.
Fernando Alonso is not a man known for making mistakes and there is every expectation that by the close of the weekend the Spaniard will have found his way into the top 3 on two occasions.
“The target will be to keep up this form and score as many points for the team as we try to take back second place in the Constructors’ Championship,”
Even so, with Lance Stroll not yet matching his teammate on a consistent basis, should Mercedes have a clean weekend then it is highly likely that the Silver Arrows will retain P2 in the F1 Constructors’ Championship ahead of their trip to Silverstone. The season no doubt has many twists and turns to come but if Aston Martin cannot handle the high-speed turns on the horizon, it may be Mercedes as well as Red Bull Racing that end up too far in front of them.
