Scoring six points during Sundays British Grand Prix was a case of damage limitation for the Aston Martin Aramco Cognizant Formula 1 Team, according to Team Principal Mike Krack.
Unlike in other races so far during the 2023 FIA Formula 1 World Championship season, Aston Martin were not able to compete further up the field to fight for podiums, but Fernando Alonso brought the AMR23 home in seventh place to score six points.
Team-mate Lance Stroll was less fortunate as he ended on the road outside the points in eleventh, which unfortunately for the Canadian quickly turned to fourteenth after stewards handed him a five-second time penalty for causing a collision with BWT Alpine F1 Team’s Pierre Gasly.
Krack says the team were lacking pace throughout the weekend, but to still be able to score some good points was a reasonable return for Aston Martin.
“To come away from our home race at Silverstone with six points is a reasonable return from a weekend where we were lacking the pace to compete at the front,” said Krack. “Fernando’s race was pretty straightforward, and we optimised the timing of his switch to the Soft tyres under the Safety Car.
“Today was a case of damage limitation and Fernando had to defend hard in the closing stages to secure seventh place. Lance raced hard today. He was pushing hard to get into the top 10 in the final stages, but the contact with Pierre [Gasly] ultimately dropped him down the final order.”
Aston Martin dropped points to the Mercedes-AMG Petronas Formula One Team at Silverstone and are now twenty-two points behind second place in the Constructors’ Championship, but Krack was pleased to see the team outscore Scuderia Ferrari and extend their advantage over the Italian team to twenty-four points.
“Today’s result has consolidated our third place in the Championship and we increased our advantage over Ferrari,” he added. “We will work hard as a team to return to a more competitive weekend in Budapest in a couple of weeks.”
