Aston Martin claims they will close the gap with Red Bull within 12 months

Mike Krack is confident that Aston Martin will close the gap to Red Bull over the course of a year.

Aston Martin claims they will close the gap with Red Bull within 12 months

Mike Krack (image via Formula Nerds), Christian Horner (image via Sports Illustrated)

Aston Martin had a good start to the 2023 season. The Silverstone-based team came out as the best of the rest behind Red Bull, with Fernando Alonso bagging multiple podiums in the first few rounds. However, the British squad fell behind rivals in recent races. Team Principal Mike Krack has claimed that his team can match the championship leaders within twelve months.

Krack made it clear that Aston Martin was keeping its focus on the 2023 car to extract more pace throughout the season. He said, “We are not switching off the tap. It is full-on development [of the 2023 car].” Although, the Silverstone team boss was adamant that the British team could catch up with Red Bull within a year.

Mike Krack explained that the new rules aided these efforts as Red Bull has the least wind tunnel and CFD time this season as the Milton Keynes-based team is at the top of the standings. Moreover, the Austrian team has further less time for such testing as part of its penalty for breaching the cost cap in 2021. Krack continued, “We will try. I think it shows that with less wind tunnel time, it is possible.”

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Mike Krack slams Alpine for sacking his predecessor Otmar Szafnauer

Alpine's Esteban Ocon racing in front of Fernando Alonso in the Aston Martin (image via F1i.com)
Alpine’s Esteban Ocon racing in front of Fernando Alonso in the Aston Martin (image via F1i.com)

Aston Martin signed the 51-year-old to serve as Team Principal mid-way through 2022 to replace Otmar Szafnauer as Szafnauer jumped ship to lead the Alpine F1 team. Now, the Romanian-American has been sacked just eighteen months after taking up his new role at Enstone. Mike Krack took a dig at the French team for the lack of stability after the Renault works team fired his predecessor.

The Aston Martin team boss believed stable leadership was key to success in F1. Red Bull is perhaps the prime example in this regard as Christian Horner has led the team from its inception in 2005 and has won multiple world titles. Krack said, “As a team principal you’d like stability don’t you? It is certainly very important to have a stable team and especially if you want to develop a team. You are not changing every team every five minutes.”

Thus, Mike Krack has made a bold claim. The 51-year-old remains confident that Aston Martin has the potential to catch Red Bull over the next year. Krack insisted that the extra wind tunnel testing compared to Milton Keynes will certainly aid the benefits of Team Silverstone. Although it remains to be seen if the British team can indeed put up a fight against the reigning world champions.

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