Mike Krack, the Team Principal at the Aston Martin Aramco Cognizant Formula 1 Team, was delighted to see Fernando Alonso secure a second consecutive third place finish in Sunday’s Saudi Arabia Grand Prix, but he rued the mechanical issue that ended Lance Stroll’s evening.
Alonso started on the front row and even led the opening lap after jumping Sergio Pérez at the start, but he was handed a five-second time penalty for being out of position on the grid. Later on, he was handed another ten-second penalty after stewards initially believed his AMR23 was worked on before the five-seconds elapsed, but a right of review from the team saw this overturned.
Stroll started strongly but began to struggle with his power deployment in the second Aston Martin, with the Canadian unfortunately causing a safety car after stopping on track, with Krack still unsure to why an issue affected him at the Jeddah Corniche Circuit.
Krack says it has been a great start to the 2023 FIA Formula 1 World Championship for Aston Martin, but it could have been even better but for Stroll’s early retirement.
“It is very satisfying to score our second podium of the year with Fernando here in Jeddah,” said Krack. “It is Fernando’s 100th career podium, which is a very impressive milestone.
“The car has been competitive throughout the weekend and we showed strong race pace once again tonight. Full credit to everyone in the team for their hard work this week.
“It is a real shame that Lance was forced to retire early with an energy recovery issue, the cause of which is still being investigated, because he had strong pace and would surely have scored big points tonight as well.”
Aston Martin will be going for a trio of podiums next time out in Australia.
