Aston Martin team principal Mike Krack has revealed that the team is ready for a “technical reset” following a disappointing second quarter of the Formula 1 season.
The Silverstone-based team failed to make a similar leap in quality over the winter to last season, when it briefly emerged as Red Bull’s closest challenger on the track, but remained one of the championship’s top five teams in terms of pace.
But, just like last year, Aston Martin has found itself slipping down the order in the race for continued development and, while it remains fifth in the standings, fourth-placed Mercedes has a 193-point advantage going into the summer break.
Assessing the first half of the season exclusively with Motorsport.com, Krack said: “I think, looking back, we started the season exactly how we thought we would start it.
“We had the expectation of being around the fifth fastest team in terms of race pace and I think we confirmed that in the first few races. [con] glimpses of perhaps slightly better performance in qualifying.
“Then, when we started developing the car, it went in the wrong direction. We couldn’t increase the performance with the upgrade and the competition did. If you don’t move forward, you get overtaken, and I think that’s a fair summary of the first half.”
Mike Krack, Team Principal, Aston Martin F1 Team
Photo by: Zak Mauger / Motorsport Images
Asked if there was a particular update that contributed to the bike’s slide, Krack replied: “No, when we look at our relative performance, we can identify Imola as one of the points because everyone brings updates to Imola.
“If yours doesn’t produce what you expect and the others do – and I don’t know, but I have to assume – take a step back. That’s the harsh reality of Formula 1.”
Krack, who told Motorsport.com that he believed rivals’ poor performances had served to flatter Aston Martin last season and create the perception that the company was further behind than it actually was, also admitted that pressure was mounting for the team to produce results.
Owner Lawrence Stroll has invested heavily in improving the facilities the team has to work with – his state-of-the-art factory has been opened in stages.
Asked how Aston can emerge from its mid-season slump, Krack explained: “Well, the most important thing is to understand why it hasn’t delivered the results it should have.”
Fernando Alonso, Aston Martin AMR24
Photo by: Steven Tee / Motorsport Images
“The last two months, I have to say, have been really tough in terms of analysis, because it’s not an immediate discovery: ‘What’s the problem?’, but it takes a little bit of time to analyze it. Then you have to act to change things, so you have to do the pieces.”
“At the same time, there are five, six, seven, eight races in which negative results are accumulating.”
“This leads to very high expectations about what will be done and what will be resolved. So we decided to take a slightly different approach, because it hasn’t delivered the results we expected, but it’s more like a little reboot and a restart.
Again, it’s about managing expectations. A turnaround in such an intense season doesn’t happen in five minutes. It’s something we all need to be aware of and have confidence that the change in approach we’ve taken will deliver the performance we want.”
Asked whether the reset will be technical or mental, he replied: “It is obvious that at the same time you want to change the way you do things.
“But I would say it’s more about a technical restart or how you set up the car, how you tackle the aerodynamic development, and then also [di capire]’what is the process that brought us to this?'”.
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