Aston Martin set for technical restart after upgrade disappointment

Aston Martin team principal Mike Krack has revealed the squad is set for a ‘technical reset’ after a disappointing second quarter of the Formula 1 season.

The Silverstone-based outfit failed to make a similar winter-break kick forward to last season, where it briefly emerged as Red Bull’s closest challenger on track, but remained one of the championship’s top five teams on pace.

But much like last term, Aston Martin has found itself slipping back in the pecking order in the continuous development race, and while it remains fifth in the standings, fourth-placed Mercedes is 193 points ahead at the summer break.

Assessing the first half of the season exclusively with Autosport, Krack said: “I think when you look back, we started the season actually where we were thinking we were going to start the season.

“We had an expectation that we were around the fifth fastest team in race pace and I think we confirmed that in the early races [with] glimpses of maybe slightly better performance in qualifying.

“Then, when we started to develop the car it just went in the wrong direction. We did not manage to add performance with the update and the competition did.

“If you do not move forward, you get passed, and I think that’s a fair summary of the first half.”

Mike Krack, Team Principal, Aston Martin F1 Team

Photo by: Zak Mauger / Motorsport Images

On whether there was a particular upgrade that contributed to the slide back, Krack replied: “No, when we look at our relative performance, we can identify Imola as one of the points because everybody brings upgrades to Imola.

“If yours is not delivering what you expect and the others do – which I do not know, but I have to assume – you take a step backwards. That’s the harsh reality of Formula 1.”

Krack, who told Autosport that he felt the underperformance of rivals served to flatter Aston Martin last season and created a perception that it has fallen further back than is actually the case, has also conceded the pressure is building for the squad to deliver results.

Owner Lawrence Stroll has invested vast amounts of money to improve the facilities with which the team has to work with – its state-of-the-art factory opening in stages.

Asked how to move forward from Aston’s mid-season slumber, Krack explained: “The most important [thing] is to understand why it didn’t deliver what it was [supposed to be] delivering.

“The last two months, I have to say, has been really tough in terms of analysis because it is not like an instant discovery, ‘what is the problem?’

“It takes you a little bit of time to analyse this. Then you have to take action to change it, then you have to make the parts.

“At the same time, there are five, six, seven, eight races in that time where you just accumulate negative results.

Fernando Alonso, Aston Martin AMR24

Photo by: Steven Tee / Motorsport Images

“It leads to a very high expectation of what you are going to do and what it is going to fix. So, what we have decided is to take a little bit of a different approach because it has not delivered what we expected it to deliver, but it is more like a little restart and building on that restart.

“Again, it’s about managing expectations. A turnaround in such an intense season is not something that you do in five minutes.

“That is something that we all need to be aware of and be confident that the change of approach that we have taken now will bring the performance that we want to bring.”

Pressed on whether the reset would be technical or mental, he replied: “Obviously, you want to adjust the way you do things at the same time.

“But I would say it’s rather a technical restart or how you put the car there, how you approach the aerodynamic development, and then also [understanding], ‘what is the process that has led us to this?’”

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