2025 Aston Martin | Aramco F1 Team

[KimiRai]

Nearly everyone said that summer break is the latest switching point for 2026, unless you are fighting for the championship.

Stella said 1-2 years ago that christmas is about the date were development for the base car (for the test) stops to be in time to produce the car.

Krack mentioned that this year they won't hurry to bring updates (McLaren approach), only when they are confident.

Imola seems to be once again a logical date for a bigger upgrade, race 7 at the mid of May.

Silverstone or Spa in July comes to my mind for a 2nd and final bigger upgrade.

It will likely be one or at best two packages. Three or four like last year is unreasonable due to the circumstances pertaining to this season and because the previous approach failed, I think

This will be interesting to see. If Newey is really on the pitwall...
I would not expect him there.

He said he will be on track during the press conference if I remember correctly. And you would want him on track in some races at least because he is a great race engineer. He is 100% committed for the first few years, later he might step back a bit, or so it was said.

[peewon]

Ive never understood people like Krack and Fallows talking about how fast they bring updates as a decision. You bring updates when you think you've improved the car in a meaningful way. Like if you found a way to be 1 second faster, will you just sit on the update for 5-6 races just for the sake of it? Obviously not. In 2023, AM didn't bring an update till Canada I think. And it was still terrible.

It reads like its almost meant for Lawrence to not pressurize them.

[JPower]

Ive never understood people like Krack and Fallows talking about how fast they bring updates as a decision. You bring updates when you think you've improved the car in a meaningful way. Like if you found a way to be 1 second faster, will you just sit on the update for 5-6 races just for the sake of it? Obviously not. In 2023, AM didn't bring an update till Canada I think. And it was still terrible.

It reads like its almost meant for Lawrence to not pressurize them.

I imagine Lawrence was very adamant about being aggressive with upgrades to keep up with the pack after 2023.

Sometimes those high demands lead to unintended consequences. Ferrari is the prime example of this. "We want the fastest car in a straight line this year". Great, now the team has created a low drag car that can't turn.

It's clear Fallows and Krack probably weren't operating in a clear feedback loop. "We've agreed to x goal, I've given you the money, I expect results by any means". That's the end of the conversation. Given his mode of operation, not surprising if you've worked for someone like that. Newey's seniority will allow him to level with Stroll.

[peewon]

Ive never understood people like Krack and Fallows talking about how fast they bring updates as a decision. You bring updates when you think you've improved the car in a meaningful way. Like if you found a way to be 1 second faster, will you just sit on the update for 5-6 races just for the sake of it? Obviously not. In 2023, AM didn't bring an update till Canada I think. And it was still terrible.

It reads like its almost meant for Lawrence to not pressurize them.

I imagine Lawrence was very adamant about being aggressive with upgrades to keep up with the pack after 2023.

Sometimes those high demands lead to unintended consequences. Ferrari is the prime example of this. "We want the fastest car in a straight line this year". Great, now the team has created a low drag car that can't turn.

It's clear Fallows and Krack probably weren't operating in a clear feedback loop. "We've agreed to x goal, I've given you the money, I expect results by any means". That's the end of the conversation. Given his mode of operation, not surprising if you've worked for someone like that. Newey's seniority will allow him to level with Stroll.

I doubt Lawrence would've said anything specific about how fast they should bring updates for '24. I think he would've demanded some answers for losing so much ground in 2023. There was no major firing that I can recall until two full seasons without any mid season improvements. I dont think thats too unreasonable in a cut throat business like F1.

Ideally, it shouldve been Krack assessing if Fallows is up for the job or not. Whether the lack of progress was something outside Fallows' control like wind tunnel correlation or that hes just not finding solutions and concepts that work. But problem with Krack is he isnt a formula 1 guy compared to someone like say Stella at Mclaren, so I feel he lacks conviction and authority when its needed, even though he seems to be level headed person overall.

Another example of his lack of gravitas is how he didnt push back against the FIA for letting Mclaren and Mercedes run those wings after theirs was banned. Someone like Toto or Horner would have raised a storm about in the media and tried to put pressure on the FIA.

[diffuser]

Ive never understood people like Krack and Fallows talking about how fast they bring updates as a decision. You bring updates when you think you've improved the car in a meaningful way. Like if you found a way to be 1 second faster, will you just sit on the update for 5-6 races just for the sake of it? Obviously not. In 2023, AM didn't bring an update till Canada I think. And it was still terrible.

It reads like its almost meant for Lawrence to not pressurize them.

I imagine Lawrence was very adamant about being aggressive with upgrades to keep up with the pack after 2023.

Sometimes those high demands lead to unintended consequences. Ferrari is the prime example of this. "We want the fastest car in a straight line this year". Great, now the team has created a low drag car that can't turn.

It's clear Fallows and Krack probably weren't operating in a clear feedback loop. "We've agreed to x goal, I've given you the money, I expect results by any means". That's the end of the conversation. Given his mode of operation, not surprising if you've worked for someone like that. Newey's seniority will allow him to level with Stroll.

I doubt Lawrence would've said anything specific about how fast they should bring updates for '24. I think he would've demanded some answers for losing so much ground in 2023. There was no major firing that I can recall until two full seasons without any mid season improvements. I dont think thats too unreasonable in a cut throat business like F1.

Ideally, it shouldve been Krack assessing if Fallows is up for the job or not. Whether the lack of progress was something outside Fallows' control like wind tunnel correlation or that hes just not finding solutions and concepts that work. But problem with Krack is he isnt a formula 1 guy compared to someone like say Stella at Mclaren, so I feel he lacks conviction and authority when its needed, even though he seems to be level headed person overall.

Another example of his lack of gravitas is how he didnt push back against the FIA for letting Mclaren and Mercedes run those wings after theirs was banned. Someone like Toto or Horner would have raised a storm about in the media and tried to put pressure on the FIA.

Like, I've told you a few times. Krack is LAWRENCE'S guy. It's too bad you don't like him but he does. I'm pretty sure he's doing EXACTLY what Lawrence wants.

Krack isn't your typical team principal. The relationship between him and Lawrence is special. To me Lawrence is the team principal and Krack is there to do all the stuff that Lawrence doesn't want to do...Almost his assistant.

[JPower]

Ive never understood people like Krack and Fallows talking about how fast they bring updates as a decision. You bring updates when you think you've improved the car in a meaningful way. Like if you found a way to be 1 second faster, will you just sit on the update for 5-6 races just for the sake of it? Obviously not. In 2023, AM didn't bring an update till Canada I think. And it was still terrible.

It reads like its almost meant for Lawrence to not pressurize them.

I imagine Lawrence was very adamant about being aggressive with upgrades to keep up with the pack after 2023.

Sometimes those high demands lead to unintended consequences. Ferrari is the prime example of this. "We want the fastest car in a straight line this year". Great, now the team has created a low drag car that can't turn.

It's clear Fallows and Krack probably weren't operating in a clear feedback loop. "We've agreed to x goal, I've given you the money, I expect results by any means". That's the end of the conversation. Given his mode of operation, not surprising if you've worked for someone like that. Newey's seniority will allow him to level with Stroll.

I doubt Lawrence would've said anything specific about how fast they should bring updates for '24. I think he would've demanded some answers for losing so much ground in 2023. There was no major firing that I can recall until two full seasons without any mid season improvements. I dont think thats too unreasonable in a cut throat business like F1.

Ideally, it shouldve been Krack assessing if Fallows is up for the job or not. Whether the lack of progress was something outside Fallows' control like wind tunnel correlation or that hes just not finding solutions and concepts that work. But problem with Krack is he isnt a formula 1 guy compared to someone like say Stella at Mclaren, so I feel he lacks conviction and authority when its needed, even though he seems to be level headed person overall.

Another example of his lack of gravitas is how he didnt push back against the FIA for letting Mclaren and Mercedes run those wings after theirs was banned. Someone like Toto or Horner would have raised a storm about in the media and tried to put pressure on the FIA.

I don't. This is sports. Team owners get crazy ideas every day.

[-wkst-]

Authority is a good word. In my opinion the influence and importance of Krack could be overestimated dramatically in the public, and it's rather Cowell (in the past Whitmarsh) who make the decisions, like Szafnauer mentioned a few times publicly (why he left AMR). Who more or less said that Krack is only the leader trackside.

[peewon]

Like, I've told you a few times. Krack is LAWRENCE'S guy. It's too bad you don't like him but he does. I'm pretty sure he's doing EXACTLY what Lawrence wants.

Krack isn't your typical team principal. The relationship between him and Lawrence is special. To me Lawrence is the team principal and Krack is there to do all the stuff that Lawrence doesn't want to do...Almost his assistant.

Its not that I dont like him. He has a good disposition and lot of qualities. 90% is there but 10% missing. Which is due to lack of F1 experience and knowledge. But you need that if you have ambitions of winning. And if Lawrence is TP, then thats a problem because hes not qualified to be one. Its possible Newey's talent can overcome this deficit, but if not, it'll be interesting to see where the buck stops next.

[peewon]

I don't. This is sports. Team owners get crazy ideas every day.

Its possible. But even if there were crazy demands, I still dont think Fallows can complain about the time he was given to show some positive development.

[collindsilva]

I don't. This is sports. Team owners get crazy ideas every day.

Its possible. But even if there were crazy demands, I still dont think Fallows can complain about the time he was given to show some positive development.

The updates were providing expected results in the WT, not on track, Merc had the same problem.
Seems more like correlation issues due to existing tools and mainly suspension related. Merc did some changes mid-season on the suspension, not sure if AM got the same info/package.