Mike Krak, head of Aston Martin F1, is now in the spotlight as the Silverstone team has never performed so successfully. But he thinks the most important thing is to stay realistic, just keep working and keep improving.
Question: To what extent have you managed to evaluate the capabilities of your car and will it be fast on all tracks?
Mike Crack: I think it’s better to be careful with these kinds of predictions. The opponents are very close, except for one, which is far ahead. To stay in second place in the team ranking for longer, we must therefore continue to work hard and give 100%.
Question: From this year onwards, the strongest teams in the championship will be limited on some scale by the time allotted for aerodynamic research. It is clear that this measure will not directly affect the balance of power, but do you think your team will benefit from it in the future?
Mike Crack: We can really do more work in the wind tunnel by doing machine upgrades. But don’t forget that we have a huge backlog to clear, and at the same time the top teams will not sit still, because they still have time for such research.
Therefore it is difficult to say if we will be able to catch up with the leaders, but we will just do our best to increase the efficiency of our car. Our main task is not to close the gap: now we just have to continue to make improvements and follow the planned plan.
Q: Your team is doing well, but don’t you think Sebastian Vettel ended his career too early? Does he regret it?
Mike Crack: If someone has ended his career too early or too late, questions on this subject are better to ask this person. The fact that we now have such a fast car is also Sebastian’s contribution, because last year there were a lot of meetings devoted to working on a new car, where he advised what to do and what not to do.
And in general, we should respect the decision he made, because he thought for a long time whether to say goodbye to us or continue his career. So whether he regrets it or not, you have to ask him.
Q: A few weeks ago, Fernando Alonso jokingly said he would be in Formula 1 for another ten years. Do you think he can take a third league title with Aston Martin, and if so, in which year?
Mike Crack: The most important thing is that the rider has the speed and the will to fight for high results. I don’t like to talk about age – neither Fernando’s nor mine for that matter. The question is, do you manage to stay in shape, do you have the will to succeed, and Fernando has all of that in abundance.
I would be happy if we could give him a car to win a third title, but I think we have to be realistic when we talk about the prospects of winning the championship. We have only taken the very first step, we have just begun to make progress, so we should not give in to dreams.
Q: You’ve had a great start to the season and we can already talk about Aston Martin’s future success, but how many engine manufacturers are knocking on your door and want to be your suppliers in 2026? The second question is: what parts of the car will be produced at the team’s new base at Silverstone in the future? And the third question: team members are no longer allowed to climb over the fence that separates the pit wall from the track to greet their riders after the finish. But if Fernando takes his 33rd win, who will pay the fine?
Mike Crack: Let’s start at the end: sure, if the team jumps the fence, Fernando will not pay such a fine. I think such a ban is solely related to security issues, and if it is introduced, it must be observed.
If someone violates it, we have to pay a fine. But here in Melbourne it is extremely difficult to climb over the rail fence as it is made of clear plastic so no one is threatened with a fine.
Going further: the decision of which components we will produce on the new base will be taken in the coming years. Now we buy many different parts from third-party suppliers, but to release them ourselves, we have to decide how to change the team structure.
As for the first question, we are completely satisfied with Mercedes engines. We get great service, so we do a good job, and we don’t really care about that kind of thing.
Source: F1 News
I am Christopher Clyde, an experienced journalist and content writer with a passion for sports. I have been writing about Formula 1 news for the past five years and am currently employed as an author at athletistic.com, one of the top sports websites in the US.
