The team that has carved out a section of the standings for itself race after race this season is Aston Martin. The team, based just outside Silverstone, occupies fifth place among the constructors, a position likely to remain until the end of the season. The championship chapter that closed in Singapore saw Mr. Stroll’s team achieve a sixth and an eighth place in the last two races. These results confirm their role as the fifth-strongest team, but team principal Mike Krack did not view this positively. He stated that the lack of updates and performance issues have resulted in a season with a balance that cannot be considered positive.
Krack: “We are not where we want to be. We don’t want to be ‘the best of the rest’”
With six races left until the season’s final checkered flag, Aston Martin has 86 points in the championship, securing fifth place due to the gap with those behind and, above all, those ahead. The British team has only a quarter of Mercedes’ points, who were their main rivals in the early races of the year. “We are not where we want to be,” team principal Mike Krack stated after the Singapore GP. “Our goal was clearly to close the gap with the top four teams over the year, and we didn’t succeed. Others have caught up more than we have, and that’s the reality.” This comment leaves little room for interpretation, other than that the season has fallen short of the team’s expectations. “The worst comment one can make is that we are ‘the best of the rest,’” Krack added. This harsh self-criticism from the head of Aston Martin shows the awareness within the team that they have not lived up to expectations. “We need to make sure that the positive results we achieve do not hide the fact that we need to improve or that we are not where we want to be. For two consecutive years, we have taken a step backward instead of making progress in development. This is the reality.” – he pointed out.
On updates: “They don’t work as we want. Others improve more than we do”
After a season start that highlighted a head-to-head between Aston Martin and Mercedes, the two teams have taken different paths in terms of results with the arrival of summer. While the three-pointed star, despite the current moment, has secured three victories this season, Aston Martin often struggles to break into the top ten. Although aiming for a historic top team is not easy for a team used to battling in the midfield, the ambition within the current organization has never changed. Krack admitted, without beating around the bush, that the work on developments has not yielded the desired results. “Firstly, the fact is that our updates aren’t doing what they should, and secondly, others are improving their cars more than we are.” The situation highlighted by the team principal of the English brigade shows that the season’s objectives have not been met. The track only confirms this scenario, as after the first races, the rivals were no longer the top teams but rather the midfield teams like Haas, Racing Bulls, and, in recent races, even Williams.
This scenario was confirmed even during the last weekend at Marina Bay, where, despite Fernando Alonso’s eighth-place finish, the AMR24 gave the team lower-level sensations. “Honestly, it was a difficult car to drive all weekend,” Alonso said at the end of the Singapore race. “We did really well to finish just a few seconds behind a Ferrari. We should have finished P15 and P16. That’s what the simulations tell us, as we were ranked as the seventh or eighth team.” Mike Krack clarified that being a Mercedes customer team cannot justify the slowdown Aston Martin has experienced. “What matters is the technology, the methodology, and how you carry out simulations. We’ve been a customer team for many years. If you choose to be one, you can’t use it as an excuse,” the team principal firmly stated. “With these regulations, it is possible to make significant progress if the car remains stable and behaves the way the drivers want.”
The updates coming at the end of the 2024 Formula One season will likely not change the course of a season with a different balance compared to 2023, when the team achieved eight podiums. Instead, the team hopes these updates will help steer them toward consistent growth, as their ‘cousins’ at McLaren have successfully done and continue to do.
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