04/03/2022
NEWS STORY
Aston Martin's new team boss, Mike Krack believes the team has everything it needs in order to be challenging for wins and even the title.
Krack joined Aston Martin in January from BMW's global motorsport operation, where he was in charge of its Formula E, GT and IMSA programmes, as well as future Sportscar programmes. Prior to that, he worked in a senior motor sport role for Porsche and had previously worked for over a decade in Formula One with Sauber and BMW-Sauber.
Speaking ahead of the all-important Bahrain test, which is followed, days later, by the season opener, Krack says that while the team has everything in place to be challengers, he is loath to set specific datelines.
"We have everything we need but we need to make the right decisions," he says. "It doesn't come by itself. It is hard work over many days, weeks and months."
Asked when the team might be challenging the front runners, Alpine's 5-year plan mentioned as a reference, he replies: "Five-year plans do not always come to success. There can only be one winner. And very often you have a disruption, like this year with a new set of regulations, where you have to readjust.
"On the other hand, what is a little bit different to the team you have mentioned is we aren't an OEM. We are a lean management structure and we can decide very quickly and we are very flexible. We have big possibilities and we have quick decision path. This is an asset not everyone has.
"Obviously you cannot plan success, but you have to put everything in place to achieve it," he adds.
Like Andreas Seidl at McLaren, Jost Capito at Williams - to name just two - Krack comes to F1 with an impressive racing pedigree, and he believes this experience will pay dividends.
"I manage to bring people together," he says, "to give them trust, to enable them, and I think I can manage to form teams that work well together. This is not a five-minute job, to have the individuals, because you can bring very, very bright individuals and they never work well together, whereas sometimes it's more important to have team work than the ultimate individuals.
"It's this fine balance between having the good people and also having them together," he continues. "The team is everything in F1, we know we have a large headcount and we all have to pull on the same side of the rope, so it is a matter of bringing them together, having the right spirit and having the right attitude.
"I think in the past that helped me in my career, and the engineering background is something that enables you to really understand what's happening and that you focus on the right areas.
"I sense a little bit the situation I had with Sauber," he admits. "We were in a similar situation where at times we were clearly over-performing to our capabilities and then we had a big partner coming in where you all of a sudden had possibilities you never had before. We have something similar here.
"BMW also had a five-year plan," he adds, smiling, "and it was handled in a very corporate manner, which we must avoid at any cost here."
Asked if he has a 'shopping list' of talent to bring on board, he responds: "It is more important to see what structure we already have here. There are really good people here. It is more like if we need to fill a role and we know someone from my network, I will make a suggestion and push to have the right people in. But it is not at all like I would like to get people exchanged for people I know, not at all.
"We must not forget ‘team Silverstone' is a great team," he adds. "For all these years it always over-performed to its possibilities, and it's important to find out where are the strengths in the team and where we can make it stronger, where we can improve on some of the weaknesses it's having.
"At the moment I have a lot of discussions with individuals, with team leaders, with department leaders, to understand how the team is run, how the system is operating. It would be foolish to come here on the first day and try and turn everything upside down and rearrange.
"The team has a good record, it needs a couple of things to make the next steps, but it is not by turning everything upside down that we will manage that."
Finally, Krack is asked about Sebastian Vettel, with whom he worked when they were both at BMW-Sauber, with whom the German made his debut in 2007.
"It is clear a guy like Sebastian does not want to be fifteenth or twelfth or eighth," says Krack. "It is our task to deliver a performing structure.
"Sebastian is a clever guy," he adds. "He will not just be focusing on this year's car but on whether he sees the potential. And if we can offer him this we have a chance to keep him for longer.
"I have not spoken to him about it. It is our task to deliver the right package and then Sebastian will want to stay and other drivers would like to join."