F1 team principal hits out at 'failure' ideas

Alonso en Krack van Aston Martin — Photo: © LAT Images

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F1 team principal hits out at 'failure' ideas

The team are heading into 2024 off the back of a fantastic season

By Sam Cook.

Sunday 28 January 2024 18:57

Aston Martin team principal Mike Krack has all-but admitted that his team will struggle in 2024, insisting that he knows his superiors will judge him over a longer period of time.

Fernando Alonso's arrival coincided with a huge turnaround in fortunes in 2023, bringing with it a swathe of podium finishes, but there are some concerns that the massive jump last season may have cost them development time for 2024.

While fans may have been hoping ahead of the new season that Alonso could go on and secure his 33rd race win 11 years after his 32nd, Krack knows that the competition is going to be just as tough in 2024.

Red Bull are forecasted to continue their dominance of the sport, while the likes of Mercedes, Ferrari and McLaren all improved in the latter part of 2023, and will be hoping to take a step forward again in 2024.

That may leave Aston Martin attempting to hold onto that fifth spot in the championship standings, rather than chasing race victories and aiming to dethrone one of the top four teams from last season.

Fernando Alonso claimed eight podiums in 2023

Fernando Alonso found himself mixing it with the very best once again in 2023

In Fernando Alonso and Lance Stroll, Aston Martin have a settled driver lineup

Aston Martin's ambitious future goals

Krack is under no illusions that this may be the case, and has said that the team won't let their terrific jump in performance at the start of last season cloud their vision going forward.

“We honestly have to zoom out a little bit, over a three or four-year period rather than race by race or season by season,” Krack told Autosport.

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“If we do not finish in a higher position next year than we do this year, people will see it as a failure. I think you have to differentiate it a little bit more, but the nature of the business is championship position.”

Red Bull Mercedes Aston Martin Fernando Alonso Mike Krack