Mike Krack believes the Aston Martin Aramco Cognizant Formula 1 Team can continue to develop its AMR23 this season, although he acknowledges it will be difficult to make the same kind of jump in performance as they made with their 2022 challenger last year.
Aston Martin started the 2022 FIA Formula 1 World Championship season with one of the worst cars on the grid, with Sebastian Vettel and Lance Stroll both struggling to get out of Q1. However, improvements throughout the year brought them closer to the front of the field, and they only missed out on sixth place in the Constructors’ Championship on countback to Alfa Romeo F1 Team ORLEN.
This year has seen Aston Martin start extremely strongly, with Fernando Alonso, who joined the team in place of the retiring Vettel, having scored three third place finishes in the opening three races, with the team second in the Constructors’ Championship heading towards the Azerbaijan Grand Prix.
Krack, the Team Principal at Aston Martin, say the Silverstone-based outfit will need to continue its development push this season otherwise they will start to fall backwards through the field, and he is confident they can continue their strong performances across the whole 2023 campaign.
“We have managed last year to develop the car substantially,” Krack is quoted as saying by Motorsport.com. “We started from a higher baseline this year, so it will not be as easy as it was last year.
“But we have to make progress if we want to stay where we are, because even if we do nothing we will go backwards. I am quite confident that we can bring performance upgrades to the car but because it is all related. We will only in time if it is efficient or not.
“I think we know roughly what we have to do and this is what has already started.”
Krack says that Team Owner Lawrence Stroll is pushing them hard to continue moving forward, and the Canadian is unlikely to be satisfied until Aston Martin are at the very front of the field.
“It’s quite easy. Lawrence’s mission statement is pretty clear. He has not been having any delay in telling us: ‘When are we going to win the next one?’,” Krack added.
“Obviously he’s happy that we have made a step, but this is not enough for his ambitions. The good thing with Lawrence is you know where you stand. He wants more and we will have to deliver more.”
