‘We are not playing the lottery,’ Mike Krack points out where Aston Martin’s current advantage over Ferrari and Mercedes lies

Mike Krack explained the reasons for Aston Martin's consistency, when compared to the relatively peakier performance of Mercedes and Ferrari.

‘We are not playing the lottery,’ Mike Krack points out where Aston Martin’s current advantage over Ferrari and Mercedes lies

Aston Martin's team principal, Mike Krack

In 2023, Aston Martin have taken a massive step. They were P7 last season. But now, they pretty much have the second-best car. And now with Fernando Alonso at the helm, they’re in an incredible position for the future. He’s now scored 4 podiums, all of them third places, in 5 races. There’s much promise for future progress as well. Perhaps, by the end of the season, the AMR23 would be competing for race wins. Despite all this, team principal Mike Krack is keeping his feet on the ground.

Aston Martin have done relatively better, and been more consistent than Ferrari and Mercedes. The latter two teams have had more significant peaks and troughs. For example, Mercedes’s best weekend was probably in Australia, while Bahrain and Baku were not very good. Ferrari, particularly Charles Leclerc, looked better in Bahrain and Baku, and (in the case of Carlos Sainz) even Australia. But Miami and Jeddah were disappointments.

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Aston Martin’s results, though, at least of those of Alonso, have been very consistent. Quizzed on AM’s rivals’ fluctuating form, Krack said as per F1.com: “I think it shows we are a strong team. It shows that we are not taking gambles, we are not playing the lottery, but we are making choices based on data, based on the results we have – that is also one of the reasons why we can be as consistent.”

However, this does not mean that podiums are now starting to feel like the norm. Quizzed whether this was the case, the Aston Martin team principal replied: “No, no, no, no, no – feet on the ground. You should never take a podium in F1 as a normal or as a given. It’s a lot of hard work involved to be on the podium, and you have very, very strong competitors in F1, very professional, and if you are not 100% in all areas at all times, then there is no podium.”

Read More: Aston Martin’s Mike Krack wants to keep his ‘feet on the ground’ despite Fernando Alonso’s wild success with 4 podium wins

Mike Krack points out races that could trouble Aston Martin

Mike Krack
Mike Krack

Just because Aston Martin, particularly, Fernando Alonso, have been consistent till now doesn’t mean they will always maintain the same level of performance. It’s a long season, every team experiences highs and lows at some point. In particular, Mike Krack thinks that AM may be in for a tougher rider in some of the more high-speed venues. He felt that three race tracks, in particular, could pose some challenges: “I think Monza and Las Vegas, Spa maybe.”

Of course, it’s not a guarantee that these tracks will trouble them: “But there is still time until then, so we can do some developments. I think as a team it’s good, you need to learn how your car behaves, how your car is compared to the competition. We hear left and right that Mercedes will have big steps coming, so we must not let down [our development], but I think also we must not focus on a single race, like Monza or whatever – we’ll take them as they come now and try to do the best.”

Aston Martin are said to be bringing their biggest upgrades for the season yet to Imola. But at the same time, Ferrari, and Mercedes are also bringing major upgrades! Still, none of them are expected to trouble Red Bull. But the fight for being the second-best team at the Emilia-Romagna Grand Prix may be closely contested, and rather spicy.

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