Aston Martin driver Fernando Alonso during the qualifying session for the Belgian Grand Prix at the Spa-Francorchamps circuit on July 28, 2023. (AFP/SIMON WOHLFAHRT)
Elshinta.com – Aston Martin team principal Mike Krack has said he immediately wants to improve his team’s performance in order to be more competitive and secure the podium in the second half of the 2023 Formula 1 season.
“Indeed, fixing a car becomes quite complicated, as we try to make improvements, but sometimes it actually creates a ‘side effect’ for its performance. That can only happen when we are behind the wheel,” said Krack, quoted by the official Formula 1 website, on Saturday.
Aston Martin surprised many at the end of the 2022 season and secured at least six podiums in the first eight races of the season. However, their form has declined since the Canadian Grand Prix in June, and their lead driver Fernando Alonso could only finish fifth in Austria and Belgium.
Krack also said he agreed with Alonso’s assessment that after seeing the improvements made by Mercedes, McLaren and Ferrari, the Spaniard ranked Aston Martin fifth on the grid in terms of lap speed. car.
“And at the same time we saw that some of our competitors were making great progress and that made us fall (level) on the grid. And we needed several events to analyze that, understand it and try to fix it. .,” Krack said.
For the Belgian GP, Krack said the team had pinpointed last minute improvements and the results were not very visible in the race. He also wants to continue this positive trend for the next Dutch GP.
“We will try to improve the car further. Several things are planned to conquer the Zandvoort circuit, and we have to close this gap again,” he said.
Asked if he thinks his team can jump back to become second fastest after action resumed after the summer break, Krack admitted he was quite optimistic about the win .
“Yeah. I mean, under normal circumstances it may seem very difficult and ambitious. But on the other hand, the gap is very small. We saw some of our shortcomings, and the most important thing right now is to recover from that and try some more,” Krack explained.
Meanwhile, F1 is still in its summer break. The 14th round of the season will take place at the Zandvoort circuit in the Netherlands from August 25-27.
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