It’s no surprise, but it’s now official: on the sidelines of the Austrian Grand Prix, Lance Stroll was confirmed for the 2025 season and beyond at Aston Martin F1, where he will continue to form the driver duo with Fernando Alonso within the team owned by his father Lawrence.
For Mike Krack, the principal of the Silverstone-based team, this choice to continue with the Canadian is only logical as Formula 1 will soon enter a completely new regulatory era.
“For many weeks I have been saying that we want continuity and stability. I think that is very important for a team, especially at the dawn of new regulations. And we are very happy to have a fairly mature line-up on the track We know our main opponents and there is no quarrel between the two green cars. This is something we have seen in recent years. Our drivers work very well together. are pushing in the same direction so we always wanted to do it that way and obviously at this stage and throughout the season I think the drivers have not been our main problem. “to have done this now and brought a little more calm to this situation.”
If Stroll was extended, there were also some very good names still available on the market, notably Carlos Sainz, who has still not confirmed his future destination, while Yuki Tsunoda, recently extended at RB F1, was also expected due to support from Honda. So didn’t Krack at one point think about replacing the Canadian pilot?
“I think you shouldn’t let yourself be influenced by the situation in the driver market. You have to formulate what you want, and we have been very clear about that and we have pursued these goals. Of course, you always have to look at what’s out there and what’s available I think everyone has a plan B and a plan C, but if you can make your plan A happen, that’s what it takes. TO DO.”
Team has ‘a long way to go’ to improve F1
Now that the driver duo is known until the end of 2026 at least, Aston Martin F1 can focus 100% on the performance of its car, which has not been brilliant lately. Last week in Spain, the British team was never a contender for points, while Stroll and Alonso are not doing much better in Austria, where they did not pass SQ2 this Friday.
But Krack echoes the recent comments of the Spanish double world champion: such difficulties at this point in the season were expected.
“We knew that Barcelona, Spielberg and Silverstone would be difficult for us, because we struggle on circuits where there are a lot of corners and there are a lot of high-speed corners. So it wasn’t a surprise. We raced with the same car two weeks before in Montreal, where we got the most points this year. It shows how quickly situations can change. Also, I think in Montreal you race in open air. , which makes things easier.”
“In Barcelona, that’s not the case. We had a lot of degradation there and it got worse as the race went on and there wasn’t much you could do. At the end of the day, it’s always interesting to see how close the margins are in qualifying. We managed to get by fractions of a hundredth in Canada. That’s what dictates your position, how you approach the race, whether you’re running in the open air or not. And it makes a big difference to the outcome of a race. But all of that is easier if you have a quicker car, and that’s what we need to work on now.”
For Aston Martin F1 to move forward, Krack concedes that it will be necessary to regain control of the development of the AMR24 given that the developments are not having the expected effects.
“I wouldn’t say we’ve stalled, but I think other teams are clearly doing a better job than us, and that’s something we need to seriously look at. In Formula 1, there’s never just just one factor. There are always multiple factors that come into play, but I think we need to look closely at aerodynamics, because it’s the number one performance differentiator in F1 and also the way we do these things. think we’ve figured out some of our problems and we’re trying to resolve them as quickly as possible, but we still have a long way to go.”
The new Silverstone wind tunnel will be ready later this year, but Krack says it is unlikely to add anything to F1 this year, or probably 2025.
“The wind tunnel won’t be up and running as quickly. So next year’s car won’t be prepared in the new wind tunnel. I think eventually we’ll have everything we need, but we don’t have it yet. On the other hand, I think that’s not an excuse. You have to do the best you can with the tools you have, and we don’t think we did that.”
“If you don’t deliver the performance promised to the drivers…”
Fernando Alonso has publicly asked his team to work harder and talk less after the very disappointing Spanish Grand Prix. Could Krack be one of the people targeted? In any case, the Luxembourg manager understands his driver’s current discontent.
“Obviously when you develop your car over the course of the year you have a close working relationship with the driver. I think that applies to all managers. And when you make improvements to the car you also tell the drivers what you expect from them. If you don’t deliver the performance you promised, they’re obviously not happy. And that’s, I think, what Fernando was referring to. I totally agree with him. It’s time for action, not talk.”
Besides the lack of performance, the AMR24 is also a car that seems difficult for its drivers to drive. Krack also affirms that this is the team’s priority area of work.
“Both drivers are very clear about how difficult this car is to drive. It’s very unpredictable. Sometimes you have moments where you think, ‘How did we get to that corner so fast?’ But unfortunately, on the other 90% of the track, you wonder how you can be so slow. If the car surprises you, you don’t go to the maximum and there’s no confidence. And I think confidence is one of the most important things. So it’s something that’s quite easy to explain, that you magnify the problems that you have.”
“That being said, what do we do about it? It’s something we’ve been looking at in depth since the last two developments didn’t work out as well as we expected. Now we have five races in six weeks. We know the lead times for parts. You have to push to get parts in early, but you also have to do it diligently. They have to be top quality or we risk being at an even greater disadvantage. So you really have to invest that time to get high quality parts and get them out as quickly as possible. So you have to know what you’re doing, but you also have to produce them to specification, quality and quantity.”
