03 August 2023 , 05:00
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Mike Krack vowed not to rush Aston Martin upgrades for the sake of it – but conceded there will is "magic bullet" which can halt their slide.
The Silverstone squad began the season as the surprise package in Formula 1. Their pace in testing was eye-catching and that translated to big points in the early rounds of the season.
Five podiums from the first six races left Fernando Alonso very pleased with his decision to join from Alpine. But he has only added one more in the last half-a-dozen outings.
An upgrade introduced in Canada did not have the desired effect and instead left Aston Martin bosses scratching their heads over how to get the best out of it. In the meantime, their rivals have caught up.
Mercedes are now above them in the constructors' championship, while McLaren have emerged from nowhere to provide even stiffer competition. Despite their own issues, Ferrari can also claim to have better performance than Aston Martin right now.
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In-keeping with his personality, Krack will not push the panic button in a bid to steady the ship. "You must avoid bringing upgrades for the sake of bringing upgrades because that is very easy," he told reporters.
"Then you burn precious cost cap money, so it is important that you understand what you are doing before you do it and it is credit to a lot of good people that we have an option to wait an event more rather than just throwing [upgrades].
"The magic bullet? I wish I could confirm that. We have a development plan, and it was based on continuously developing the car and we will follow that. Obviously, you need to see what directions you will take, depending on what happens, but all in all, we have this development race."
Given their lightning start to the season, expectations regarding what Aston Martin can and should achieve had shifted dramatically. But Krack was keen to point out that his team is still 177 points better off than it was after 12 races of the 2022 campaign.
He added: "I said from the beginning of the season we have now an opportunity after 12 races to take [stock]. We have 10 times more points than we had at this stage last season, and we are P3 in the championship, so expectations rise with your results, but obviously, you must not forget where you come from.
"In all the push for development, we also have to realise that we have made big steps and that it is important to zoom out and see what you have achieved."