Can Aston Martin F1 Stay Focused as Challenges Mount?

Despite a challenging season finale, Aston Martin F1 focuses on lessons learned and long-term goals to regain competitiveness in Formula 1.

Before the summer break, Mike Krack expressed optimism for Aston Martin F1, noting that developments, particularly those introduced in Austin, would enable the team to bounce back.

Yet, this was not the case; in fact, Aston Martin F1 regressed in outright performance, even becoming the slowest team at Interlagos. The Silverstone outfit even scrapped its new Austin floor entirely.

Is this not a clear setback? Against all odds, Mike Krack, the team principal, insists on maintaining his optimism and high level of confidence.

“Yes, even though it may be hard to understand after the recent races. The development direction has always been clear, and that’s crucial—perhaps more crucial than outsiders might realize—but we failed to deliver the performance gains we expected and to provide Lance and Fernando with a sufficiently competitive car.”

“There are important lessons to learn from the reasons for this failure. Perhaps we were a bit too impatient in bringing upgrades to the track. There’s a constant demand for upgrades, upgrades, upgrades, and sometimes we rushed. There’s a lesson in that: quality over quantity.”

“However, when I step back and look at the bigger picture, things are encouraging. The AMR25 shows promising signs in the wind tunnel; we’ve managed to attract some of the best minds in the sport, like Andy Cowell, Adrian Newey, and Enrico Cardile, to our team; we constantly have new facilities coming online; and the project to build the team of the future is progressing at a strong pace.”

“There’s a lot happening behind the scenes that convinces me we’re moving in the right direction—which is where my confidence comes from. We’re in a much better position than last year because we’ve learned a lot—from both successes and mistakes. We’re becoming more rigorous, setting clearer objectives, and asking more questions to better align expectations with outcomes.”

Ironically, Aston Martin F1 seems to be paying the price for its excellent start to 2023, with Fernando Alonso’s repeated podium finishes.

Mike Krack admits that this golden period altered the expectations surrounding the Silverstone team.

“Yes—because of the first eight races of 2023. That period was unreal. It gave us a benchmark we weren’t yet ready for, and I said so at the time. That’s why I say we’re in a much better position now: we’re doing things better than we were back then. Competitive positioning depends heavily on what other teams do, and some of them are doing excellent work. That’s another lesson we need to learn from.”

Are Alonso and Stroll Demoralized?

Are Fernando Alonso and Lance Stroll disheartened by this loss of competitiveness? It would be understandable…

“I have to commend them; they’ve conducted themselves admirably. It’s in difficult times that you see who is truly strong. This year, it took me some time to realize just how solid they’ve been. Facing the media, they’ve proven to be true team players, absolutely steadfast.”

“It’s incredibly tough for them because they’re the ones standing in front of the microphones, facing criticism, while we haven’t delivered on what we promised. Week after week, they’ve shown up and presented a united front. If they’ve ever been critical, it’s always been fair and always aimed at extracting the maximum from the team.”

Given this lack of competitiveness, would Mike Krack say his drivers’ performances (especially Alonso’s) have gone unnoticed this year?

“When you’re fighting for podiums, there are 50 journalists around you, but when you’re fighting for 12th place, maybe one or two. That must be tough for them—it’s not because they haven’t walked away with trophies that they’ve driven any less brilliantly. They’ve managed their frustration and understand that negativity gains nothing. To some extent, I’ve gone through the same process, and we’ve all grown closer because of it. This year has brought us together as a team. That’s an extremely positive takeaway from our journey.”

What’s Left to Play for This Year?

Aston Martin F1 has little left to fight for at the end of this season. Barring a major surprise, the team will finish 5th in the Constructors’ Championship… Krack is now focused on rallying his team.

“The obvious goal for the remainder of this season is to secure fifth place in the Constructors’ Championship. The less obvious goal is to learn as much as possible for 2025. We’ll continue to extract the maximum from each race, but it’s also important to use Friday practice sessions to verify whether what we’re doing is the right approach for 2025.”