Arrived at Aston Martin at the start of the season, where he succeeded Otmar Szafnauer, Mike Krack received the mandate to lead the team of Canadian billionaire Lawrence Stroll to the top in the next five years.
Posted yesterday at 10:32 p.m.
A big order.
Trained at BMW, where he held several positions of responsibility, the Luxembourg engineer is optimistic, even if Stroll is not known for his patience. “We get along very well,” he assured Thursday during a press briefing punctuated by the lightning and thunder of the storm that hit the metropolis at the end of the afternoon. “We have a very clear vision of what we want to do, very high expectations too, but we have the means to achieve them. »
The resources are there, indeed, and the team is currently building a state-of-the-art factory at Silverstone in Britain. “The work is progressing quickly and it will be a really big improvement when it’s all completed,” Krack explained.
Currently, our staff works in several buildings, several sites. Bringing them together in the same place will have very positive effects on efficiency, but also on team spirit.
Mike Krack
Will still remain to join the top teams. Aston Martin did not hesitate to “draw” among them, “poaching” several engineers from Red Bull, a maneuver which ended up leading to accusations of cheating on the part of the rival team. If Krack assures that his staff have nothing to reproach themselves for, he is also a little amused to see Christian Horner worrying about the performance of Aston Martin.
“I think this whole thing will lead to nothing and Red Bull should focus on fighting for the championship. We’re not really worried, because we haven’t done anything wrong,” he said in Monaco.
Nevertheless, the introduction of a revamped version of the Aston Martin AMR22, visibly inspired by the Red Bull, allowed the team to progress in the hierarchy. The Monegasque event thus marked a turning point for Aston Martin, Sebastian Vettel reaching the third phase of qualifying before obtaining tenth place. He did even better in Baku, with a new qualification in the top 10 and a sixth place. If Lance Stroll has only scored two points, his teammate’s recent performances give hope that the Canadian will soon be able to join him in the fight for points.
Photo Olivier Jean, THE PRESS
Lance Stroll
In fact, Lance was mostly the victim of a lot of bad luck. Our data shows that our two drivers have equivalent performances and I have no doubt about the motivation of each of them.
Mike Krack
Of the ‘new’ Aston Martin, Krack is content to say: “There have been a number of marked improvements – there will be more, still here – and we believe we have greater development potential. Sebastian did well in Baku and the track is a bit similar here in Montreal, although a bit faster.
“We don’t believe that the conditions will be as favorable for our car, but we are still optimistic and we will continue to work in order to progress in the hierarchy. »
In the medium term, Krack hopes to see Aston Martin climb the Constructors’ Championship standings. Currently tied for eighth with Haas, the team is aiming for the middle of the pack. “We have a good team, the right people in the right places. We have shown that we can react and find ways to improve. I think we won’t finish the season where we are right now…”
Vettel’s return to form – he had missed the first two races of the season due to COVID-19 – also raised questions about the rest of his career. At 34, the quadruple world champion has cast doubts on his desire to stay in F1. And we are talking about the imminent arrival of Mick Schumacher at Aston Martin, alongside the irremovable Lance Stroll.
In an interview with a German specialist periodical, Krack said: “When you have someone like Sebastian, you have to try to keep him. It’s a mix of driving quality, experience and a very positive personality that keeps us going. It would be good to create the conditions so that he can continue to use his talent with us. »