Aston Martin boss Mike Krack has acknowledged that the team is under “huge pressure” to deliver amid a 2024 Formula 1 season that’s contained multiple setbacks.
The Silverstone-based side has been unable to replicate the winter gains that saw it prop up as Red Bull’s closest challenger last term with six podiums in eight races.
Aston Martin dropped behind Mercedes, Ferrari and a revitalised McLaren, though, as missteps in development saw two top-three results come in the next 14 rounds.
The British marque’s hopes that a large upgrade package at Imola would bring the team closer to the leading quartet unravelled as it didn’t deliver the expected gains.
Instead, the new parts have made the AMR24 harder to drive on the edge and seen Aston Martin slip back towards a compact midfield duel at various race weekends.
However, Krack is adamant that Aston Martin shouldn’t be assessed on its 2023 standing at a time when “others were underperforming and we were overperforming.”
Nevertheless, Krack has also conceded that the continuous development problems have ramped up the expectations for Aston Martin to recover as soon as possible.
Asked about Aston Martin’s regression since the nascent stages last season, Krack told Autosport: “Well, I think there are two aspects.
“One is: what progress do you make compared to the competition over the years? Where you have ambitious targets and you try to manage them.
“That is something that I think you have a discussion [about] and you have a plan in place and you know that you cannot go from seventh to first. It’s not possible.
“You need, ‘this and this and this’. You have seen some of what we need in the future. That is one point and I think there is a certain amount of reality or realism and also patience.
“But then when you go and you zoom in and you bring upgrades and they are not delivering the performance that they should, then the pressure is increasing and rightly so.
“I think the perception from outside is not wrong or erroneous. The perception inside is huge pressure because [the upgrade] doesn’t deliver what you were expected to deliver and trying to solve this as quick as possible [is now the aim] and in that point, I understand also that there is less patience.”
Aston Martin’s plight has prompted speculation that billionaire owner Lawrence Stroll could lose patience and elect to make changes to reverse the squad’s fortunes.
But despite admitting the team has not hit its ambitions this season, Krack is adamant that Stroll understands that Aston Martin’s venture is tailored to the long term.
“Now, Lawrence has been in this business for long,” he added. “He is very knowledgeable of how Formula 1 works, he knows also that if you have something that didn’t work until you have something better, it takes time – to make new parts, to make this to make that. So, I think it’s a mix between the two. It is a situation that we would not like to be in.
“We started the season in fifth, wanted to get closer, had a plan to get closer to the top cars, and have not delivered that.”
