Yahoo Autos Aston Martin’s Krack says Stroll demands add clarity rather than pressure
Aston Martin team principal Mike Krack believes the lack of satisfaction from owner Lawrence Stroll brings clarity to what is required from his team rather than adds pressure.
Fernando Alonso has finished on the podium in each of the opening three race as Aston Martin enjoys a clear step forward compared to last season and is currently second in the constructors’ championship. Despite that, Krack (pictured at left, above) says Stroll’s approach is to focus on how far away the team is from winning races and championships and the German says it’s helpful for the team to have certainty over what is expected.
“It’s easy, Lawrence’s mission statement is very clear — he has not been having any delay in asking us, ‘When are we going to win the next one?’” Krack said. “Obviously he’s happy that we have made a step but this is not enough for his ambitions and the good thing is you know where you are standing — he wants more and we will have to deliver more.”
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Last year, Aston Martin impressively developed its car and closed the gap to other midfield teams after a poor start, but Krack says the strength of the front-running teams then prevents others from picking up too many points.
“In a cost cap environment with such intensity of racing you have to start with a good car, because to play catch-up all year, if you are down on points then it’s quite impossible. You could see there was not much to score, even if you had the fourth fastest car last year we were not scoring enough to make up for any gaps.
“So we have managed last year to develop the car substantially, now we start from a higher baseline, so it will be not as easy as it was last year but we have to make progress if we want to stay where we are, because if we don’t do anything we will go back. I am quite confident we can bring performance upgrades onto the car but because it’s relative, only time will tell if this is sufficient or not.”
Krack is confident in the direction Aston Martin is planning to take with its development plan, having analyzed the impact of certain changes to back up its decisions.
“We tried several small things to understand our car better before rushing into going in one direction or another one. I think we know roughly what we have to do and this is what has already started and what has been confirmed and will continue now.”
