Aston Martin can't extract everything from its package, conceded Mike Krack
Having debuted an upgrade package in Texas a few weeks ago, Aston Martin team boss has revealed that the team is struggling to extract everything from the developments.
Despite their strong showing at the start of the 2023 F1 season, Aston Martin has failed to mimic that impressive performance so far in 2024. While the Silverstone-based outfit challenged for top places courtesy of Fernando Alonso, who even came close to win for the team in Canada and Monaco, the British squad has dropped down the pecking order for 2024.
Aston Martin debuted a raft of upgrades at the United States Grand Prix which have so far failed to deliver the step the team had hoped for. Team boss Mike Krack has confirmed that his outfit has struggled to extract the maximum from the new package which forced Aston Martin to carry out a series of test runs at the Autodromo Hermanos Rodriguez.
"I mean, if you look at it, it was a Sprint weekend. We decided to start with both cars identical, basically throwing everything at it. And it was not easy the whole weekend.
"We turned the car up, we turned it down, we went stiff, we went soft. But we couldn't really extract the performance that we wanted to extract from it. As I said, it was tough. And from this, we said, ‘OK, we come to Mexico, and then we have to do a little bit more homework’.
"We will have a bit more time. You have seen probably both cars had big rakes on today [Mexio, Friday]. They ran with different specifications and they will run also different specifications this afternoon. So it's about understanding what we have not understood yet and do better going forward."
Although it seems that Aston Martin is experimenting a lot at the moment, Krack said that his team does not sacrifice everything for 2025, but it is intent on delivering some encouraging performances in the dying stages of the seaason.
"I think that is the case for most of the teams. Everybody has his eyes on ‘25, except if you have big ambitions for the championship or different championship positions. So it's about learning the maximum.
"But then we also, this is not only a learning exercise. We're not here for learning only. I think when Saturday and Sunday start, you have to go racing and you have to go with the best car you have, so I think the Friday is good to experiment and to try and learn for the future, prepare as much as you can, but then come Saturday, Sunday, I think you have to run what you think is the fastest you have.
Aftr the confirmation of several key hirings, including Red Bull's former star designer Adrian Newey, former Mercedes engine chief Andy Cowell attended his first race with Aston Martin at the United States Grand Prix. The Briton who will take on the role of Aston Martin Group's CEO, wanted to get an overview of how the team is operating on a race weekend.
Krack noted: "Well, it was very good to have Andy around in Austin so that he gets an overview of how we operate at the track. He was at the factory already for a couple of weeks. It's obviously a lot about getting to know the people, getting to know how we do things.
"And I have to say, I'm very, very positive about how we went so far. A very calm, very structured approach, very factual. which is very promising.
"And from the early talks, early beginnings or early conversations, I think I get an understanding why he was so successful in the places where he was before."
