Aston Martin team principal Mike Krack was full of praise for the two-time world champion following a successful pre-season testing in Bahrain which saw the Spaniard properly start his season at the Silverstone squad, describing his new driver in just one word: “Wow!”
Photo Credits: Aston Martin Aramco Cognizant F1 Team
Fernando Alonso’s Aston Martin debut was one of the main talking points during pre-season testing for the 2023 F1 season in Bahrain, and it was followed by a good performance which saw the team set some quick lap times and turn a good amount of laps around Sakhir.
And whilst lap times don’t matter much in testing, consistency in long runs is often a sign of a balanced car that can keep its tyres in good shape for long distances – and that’s exactly what Aston Martin achieved, especially in the final day of testing.
Although insisting that the team will not get carried away by a good test, team principal Mike Krack was full of praise for his new signing for the 2023 season, two-time world champion Fernando Alonso.
Krack pointed out the team is “very happy” with Alonso, and how his experience with the Spaniard has been “positive throughout”:
“If I can only say one word about Fernando [Alonso], it’s ‘wow’,” he said, speaking to media after the final day of testing in Bahrain. “Honestly, he has been positive throughout. In terms of feedback, in terms of how he’s pushing us, how he’s pushing himself, and also for the pace that he’s delivering, so we are very happy.”
When asked about the AMR23 and its working window, Krack mentioned how it was something the team worked on with Alonso, experimenting with set-up directions – looking ahead to future races, and not just what’s best for the Sakhir circuit – giving the 32-time race winner a better understanding of his new machine:
“It’s something that we had to work on, it was not straightaway,” he explained. “The positive thing here with Fernando was that he tried several things, basically to fill his toolbox.
“He tried things where maybe sometimes you would say ‘this is not the right thing to do now’, but it’s something that he wanted to have the information on, because he knows that in Melbourne he might need something like this, or in another race track he might need something like that.
“It was about understanding what you have at your disposal, from the car point of view, from the set-up point of view. And that is something that over the days he really developed, and I think he has a better answer now and a better feeling of what he has to do.”
Alonso joined the team in place of retiring four-time world champion Sebastian Vettel, who also worked closely with Krack in BMW Sauber in 2007 before their season together at Aston Martin in 2022.
When asked about how the two drivers compare, the Luxembourgish said it is “difficult” and “unfair” to compare the two drivers, stating in a very diplomatic answer that both are “great champions”:
“It’s very, very difficult to compare. Both are very fast drivers, both have been world champions. I think it’s difficult to really compare them.
“Both have their own ways of communicating, both have their own ways of handling and dealing with the team, and I think it’s unfair to say one is better or one is worse in this kind of area.
“They are both great, great champions.”
