Krack Admits Aston Martin Studies McLaren's Rapid Gains

Aston Martin’s Mike Krack reveals the team’s intent to analyze McLaren’s strategies for consistent performance improvements in Formula 1.

Aston Martin F1 is looking into how McLaren has evolved their car to consistently improve performance. Team Principal Mike Krack acknowledges that they want to take inspiration from what the Woking team has achieved with very effective upgrades over the past year.

“We are studying this closely,” Krack said. “If you compare the pace and see when they made progress, you can correlate that with certain improvements that were declared, as we never have the full picture.”

“There’s a certain correlation where you can say, ‘OK, that’s what was changed, and what could it potentially have done.’ For example, when you look at the development at Zandvoort, there’s a bit of progress here and there. You see how thin and complex these cars have become, so I think it would be foolish not to pay attention to it.”

Krack reflects with frustration on the battle against Mercedes, explaining that the equation to solve for the 2024 cars is different from 2022: “We were on the same level as Mercedes at the start of the season for the first few races, and then they won races.”

“It’s possible to make substantial progress with these regulations if you manage to stabilize the car and make it work as the drivers want. It’s no longer just a pure race for aero downforce as it was in the past. What’s really difficult now is that it’s more about getting stability, but also balance and load.”