Aston Martin F1 showcased key upgrades at the Hungarian Grand Prix, signaling a confident stride in their development trajectory.
At the recent Hungarian Grand Prix, Aston Martin F1 introduced several significant upgrades to their vehicle, including a new floor design.
Despite this, the Silverstone team did not leap forward in the rankings, nor did they make a significant improvement a week later in Belgium, remaining roughly the fifth fastest team.
Is this a disappointment, especially when someone like Fernando Alonso had high expectations for these new components?
“However, the updates we made in Hungary are working,” assured Mike Krack, a team principal facing increasing pressure.
“It’s not just about making the car faster for the rest of the season, but also about knowing that we understand our platform and how to develop it.”
“A journalist who perhaps hadn’t looked at the context asked me if we were still lost. I said that being ‘lost’ meant not knowing where you were, not knowing what to do. We know the updates are working, so we are not lost. If the updates hadn’t worked, we would have been lost because it would have meant that we didn’t quite understand our car.”
Last year, Aston Martin F1 fell behind in the development race. Was Mike Krack not, therefore, concerned that his team might also effectively ‘lose its way’ in development this year?
“One certainly thinks about it because our development prior to Hungary did not yield the expected results, but because these latest upgrades are effective, I have the confidence to say that we are moving in the right direction. We have adopted a new approach with the car and are now making progress.”
“From a technical standpoint, I see the light. I have faith in our engineering, our performance development, our aerodynamic development. We are on the right track and will have a better second half of the season. I’m not in the habit of making such bold statements, but we know what we have.”
Mike Krack acknowledges that earlier upgrades did not perform as expected for his team. Has Aston Martin F1 understood why since then?
“Some of our previous upgrades did not meet our expectations exactly. The trends were correct, but the anticipated gains in certain areas may not have been as significant as expected, while corresponding losses in other areas were greater than anticipated. The net effect is an evolution less effective than hoped for. It’s not really a case of things going wrong, but rather a matter of degrees.”
“F1 is experiencing an interesting time for such matters. In the past, upgrades tended to work immediately. Disappointments were rare. Today, particularly with the floor designs being so close to the ground and so unstable, it’s not certain that upgrades will work immediately.”
“We see this across the paddock: ourselves, Ferrari, RB, Red Bull are struggling to enhance performance; other teams—McLaren, Mercedes—are making huge strides. It’s really not easy to understand what’s happening. Fortunately, we know that our latest updates are performing as expected.”
Mike Krack takes this opportunity to explain the genesis of these upgrades: what was introduced in Hungary had been planned well before, of course…
“It can be frustrating when an upgrade doesn’t perform as anticipated, but no one succumbs to this frustration and the nature of the work does not change. It’s relentless. We targeted Hungary for these updates, from the 8th Grand Prix in Monaco. The timelines in F1 may be underestimated by the outside world, but it was an incredibly accelerated schedule—yet it limited the number of races in which we would have struggled.”
“An entire chain of people, from the design office to the manufacturing department, through suppliers, quality control, and testing, worked incredibly hard to deliver the updates, including a new floor in just a few weeks—a record time for this part. I am very proud of all team members for their response and what they have achieved in such a short time.”
How does he respond to criticisms from Fernando Alonso?
Among the two drivers of the team, it was Fernando Alonso who was the most vocal and critical about the approach of Aston Martin F1. He had thus asked his team to talk less and deliver more…
Does Mike Krack understand the frustration of the Spanish driver?
“We’ve had some frustrating months and, from time to time, Lance and Fernando have publicly expressed their frustrations. It doesn’t bother me, but I think we need to protect them.”
“They are elite athletes, but they are also human beings. They get out of the car after a race, they’re full of adrenaline, they’re hot, they’re exhausted, and the microphone is always there. The drivers are always exposed and it’s our job to protect them.”
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Aston Martin F1 Steers Clear of Development Woes Aston Martin F1 Steers Clear of Development Woes
