Aston Martin F1 Chief Delivers Blow – ‘Car Is Tough To Drive’

Aston Martin’s F1 team is grappling with significant challenges as their team boss, Mike Krack, candidly reveals the struggles with their 2024 contender, the AMR24. According to Krack, the vehicle not only requires substantial modifications to compete with frontrunners like Red Bull, McLaren, and Ferrari, but also presents a daunting challenge in terms of driveability which hampers their performance on the track.

Krack’s introspection came against a backdrop of initial high hopes that slowly diminished. In 2023, the Silverstone-based squad kicked off the season on a high note, securing multiple podium finishes thanks to veteran driver Fernando Alonso. However, the performance level not only plateaued but began to decline as the season progressed, a trend that unsettlingly continues into the current season. Initially matching Mercedes’ pace, Aston Martin has found itself increasingly lagging behind due to enhancements made by their competitors.

The root of Aston Martin’s recurring difficulties with the AMR24 centers around its complex handling. Krack explained, as quoted by F1technical.net:

“Well, the car is quite tough to drive, and we have not managed to cure that so far. So what we need is a car more benign, easier to extract potential, give them more confidence.

“And we had something like that in the past, and that was much, much easier for the drivers. If you lack confidence in your car, then you cannot go to the maximum. You have to take margin and you are much more exposed to these small gaps that we are having these days.

“And then you can end up on the wrong side of it. And then you start a race much, much further back and there is no point. So it’s up to us to fix these issues.

“You asked me how long. I would be happy if I could tell you in two races we have fixed everything. We’re working hard on it to cure these problems and we’re trying to bring these updates as quick as possible.”

Despite current on-track struggles, Krack pointed out significant strides in team development and infrastructure, marking a transitional phase towards elevating Aston Martin’s operational capabilities. He continued:

“We are on a journey to become a bigger team, a top team. We have quite a lot of infrastructure projects in the making. And I think the comment that he made is probably related to last year, we had quite a lot of good results, but we were not ready as a team.

“We were in a different position. We still had our old factory. Nothing had really changed. I think we have grown over the 12 months, and that is what he refers to. Unfortunately, the results are not as good as they were last year, but this is very often circumstantial.

“Other teams have made more progress than we have done in comparison. But overall, it seems that we are in a better place, how we go about things, how we discuss things, how we make changes. And I think this is what he feels compared to last year.”