Lack of progress at Aston Martin, Mike Krack faces a dilemma

In Barcelona, Aston Martin surprised the paddock by arriving with a new aerodynamic package. “The AMR22 B” which incorporates certain features of the RB18 had shown potential, but the result was still not there on arrival. Problem is, the situation is always the same in Austria. In the space of 5 races, the British team has still not managed to take off in the standings with numerous finishes outside the points. Worse still for two races, Aston Martin showed regularity in qualifying by exiting each time from Q1.

The expected step forward is still not there and the ship is starting to take on water. Lucid, the captain, Mike Krack, does not try to hide behind excuses. “ We can talk about it and we must talk about it, explains the Team Principal about the performance of his team. Obviously we all know we didn't have a great start. And I think the last races before Silverstone we had tracks that suited the characteristics of the car. But now the last two circuits have really shown us again, a little more precise picture of our position. And we're just not performing well enough. We saw it at Silverstone, we saw it yesterday. »

Difficulties in fast corners for Aston Martin

With a car that makes it difficult for them to get into Q2, Sebastian Vettel et Lance stroll are forced to drive at the limit. Trying to push the limits without making mistakes. A difficult task as the Canadian saw in Baku. Within Aston Martin, we are aware of the difficulties encountered by the two drivers. “ Drivers always complain about grip and balance. So obviously when you push really hard, which you always do when you have a car that's not fast enough, you push too much. And so you have balance problems. But also, we had sessions where to go faster you need more grip », underlines the Team Principal

The AMR22 particularly suffers on tracks that include fast turns. “ So we are fighting in all the fast corners. In Canada there were fewer, in Baku there were fewer and the car is quite good. As soon as we arrive at high speed sections, we have gaps », says Mike Krack.

Mike Krack hasn't made his decision yet

One of the solutions available to Aston Martin would then be to abandon the 2022 season, which is already off to a very poor start, and focus directly on next year. A possibility considered by Mercedes. But Toto wolff reminded us that before planning, we must understand our mistakes. The situation is different within the British team which has already identified its shortcomings. “ Yes, I think our engineers have understood and also know what needs to be done for the future. But then it's a question of time and financial resources ", says Mike Krack.

So, are we at Aston Martin really ready to let the 2022 season go? “ It's a very difficult decision to make because obviously you don't want to end the year in the situation we are in now. But you don't want to compromise next year either. So we have to evaluate very carefully what we can do at this stage to get a little out of the situation we are in without compromising next year's car. We really need to find the right balance. » Aston Martin will have to make the right decision under penalty of seeing Sebastian Vettel leave who continues every weekend to drag his spleen in his car.

ALSO READ > The starting grid for the Austrian Grand Prix Sprint Race