Speaking after the Australian Grand Prix, Aston Martin team principal Mike Krack talks making the jump towards the front of the grid and shares his thoughts on the tweaked Sprint rules for the Azerbaijan Grand Prix.
“This is not enough for his ambitions.”
Mike Krack has discussed Aston Martin’s future ambitions after their impressive start to the season, scoring three consecutive podiums in the opening three Grands Prix. He shared that Lawrence Stroll is happy with the team’s improvements over last season, but has his sights set on championships with the Aston Martin marque.
Stroll was quick to put pressure on the team who have the ambition to continue pushing forward with the aim of challenging Red Bull next season.
“It’s quite easy,” Krack stated when asked about Lawrence Stroll. “ Lawrence’s mission statement is pretty clear. He has not been having any delay in telling us when we are going to win the next one. Obviously he’s happy that we have made a step but this is not enough for his ambitions.
“The good thing with Lawrence, you know where you stand. He wants more and we will have to deliver more.”
“Red Bull is substantially faster in a straightline…”
Krack also highlighted an area in which Aston Martin have so far struggled to challenge the dominant Red Bull team. He says straightline speed is an area in which the team must focus in order to challenge Red Bull, having been asked if DRS improvements are on the team’s radar.
“I think we have a great car but the Red Bull is substantially faster in a straightline and it’s something that we will have to work on, definitely.”
“There were very constructive discussions…”
Krack also discussed the move to a standalone Sprint format, with a separate qualifying session planned for the Sprint during the upcoming Azerbaijan Grand Prix in Baku.
He noted the changes were made after discussions with the team’s in order to better work around the regulations regarding tyre allocation as well as the additional engine mileage added due to the sprint.
“F1 has to evolve in general,” Krack said. “But also I think F1 has to keep its DNA. There was quite some constructive discussions today on how to achieve that because you have to also understand all the stakeholders interests which we do. But also we have a very tight timeline now with regulations, with tyre availability, with engine mileage and all that.
“All those points you have to factor in and try and find a sensible compromise. And maybe at one point you have to also put the interest of a single team on the side and look for the big picture. From that point of view I think there were very constructive discussions this morning.”
“I think it will be a good show.”
When asked if he thinks the change to have the Sprint not affect Sunday’s starting grid could potentially motivate drivers to push harder, he shared his concerns. Krack stated the lack of time available to the team’s to carry out any repairs after the Sprint but prior to the Grand Prix makes pushing in the sprint a ‘high risk high reward’ strategy.
“I said on Friday I’m nervous about a sprint in Baku,” he said. “Because you just have not enough time to repair if you have a major damage because straight after the sprint you have the covers on and in the morning you have only three, four hours to repair your car if it’s heavily damaged.
“So there is a high risk with that exercise, but again it’s the same for everybody and I think Baku it is not so difficult to overtake. If you take high risk in the more cornering part then there is high risk obviously but I think it will be a good show.”
