Aston Martin Team Principal, Mike Krack has confirmed that the team has “already turned” focus to the 2023 F1 Season.
Krack arrived in January to replace Otmar Szafnauer as Team Principal following the latter’s shock departure as he instead moved to Alpine.
The first-half of this season though has seen Aston Martin struggle for results as they lie ninth in the constructor standings, with a season best finish of sixth – achieved at Azerbaijan Grand Prix with Sebastian Vettel.
Krack consequently has confirmed that the team have already switched their focus to next season, as he explained in a chat with astonmartinf1.com in which he reflected on the season so far:
“Although we must continue to improve the performance of the AMR22 and we have a small group of people still working on it, we’ve already turned our attention to the AMR23.
“Our focus has been on AMR23 for a while now because the car needs to perform right out of the box. A new season and new car represent the biggest opportunity to move ahead of our competitors.”
On where the team needs to improve the car moving forward across the second-half of the season, Krack added: “Our focus must be on performance – on improving the car – because we already have all the ingredients required to succeed.
“Reliability, for example, has been one of our strengths: our car has completed the second-highest amount of laps this season and that says a lot about the quality of our work and our processes – we can deliver a reliable car under pressure.”
Krack proceeded to praise both Vettel and Lance Stroll for how they have handled the struggles of this season, as he continued: “They have done very well. Hats off to them because we’ve had some really difficult moments so far this season.
“The car has been difficult to drive, and it would have been easy for Sebastian and Lance to get frustrated, but they have always remained positive and very professional.
“They’ve always been constructive with their feedback, never had a bad word to say about the team, and they’re willing to take ownership of any mistakes they make behind the wheel.”
Krack also acknowledged the work of Nico Hülkenberg and Jessica Hawkins behind-the-scenes in the simulator, whilst Hulkenberg also drove in the opening two rounds of the season after Vettel had tested positive for Coronavirus.
Expanding on the “teamwork” demonstrated this season by everyone at the team including their drivers in a bid to fight for wins in coming seasons, Krack explained: “It all comes back to our team ethos: we’re all in this together and will overcome the difficult moments together.”
Summing up the importance of teamwork within the work environment amidst poor results, Krack praised the whole team for ensuring “… an incredibly positive and constructive environment to work in and now we need to channel this incredible team spirit into making a quicker car.”
2023 though will see a fresh input of driver energy with Fernando Alonso replacing Vettel who will retire at end of this season.
Alonso’s arrival as a veteran though is debatable given the desire of fans to see young drivers like Felipe Drugovich and Theo Pourchaire given a chance in F1.
Krack however believes that Alonso has a “killer instinct” which the team can rely upon in terms of effort and his ability to “always extract the maximum from the car and the team”, plus his “exceptional” racecraft holds “… a formidable combination of confidence, instinct and intelligence.”
He proceeded to iterate that Alonso’s arrival will also serve as “a clear statement” of intent to fight higher up the grid for victories and podiums.
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