What to expect from Aston Martin’s new F1 team principal

Mike Krack finally started work as Aston Martin’s Formula 1 team principal this week, having taken over following the departure of Otmar Szafnauer. 
What to expect from Aston Martin’s new F1 team principal

The former BMW moto🍸rsport boss officially began his new role on Tues💟day and will make his first appearance in the F1 paddock for Aston Martin during next week’s second pre-season test at Bahrain. 

Krack will work under the direction of team owner Lawrence Stroll and Group CEO Martin Whitmarsh in a re💟structu𓃲ring of the Aston Martin team as part of its five-year plan to become a leading player in F1. 

The 49-year-old boasts extensive experience in motor🌊sport management at BMW and Porsche and also spent a period working in F1 as an engineer for Sauber between 2001 and 2009. 

Speaking to wuqian0821.com and other media in his first interview in his new role, Krack said h🎃e aims to utilise all of his management strengths from his wealth of experience gained across various motorsport series including F1, Formula E, and the World Endurance Championship.  

What to expect from Aston Martin’s new F1 team principal

“I think I manage to bring people together, to give them trust, and I thi𒆙nk I can manage to form teams that work 🥃well together,” he said. 

“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. Sometimes it’s more impo🦩rtant to have team work than the ultimate individuals. 

“It’s this fine b🔴alance between having the good people and𝔍 also having them together. Because 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, playing in the same goal, everyone who is involved. 

“So it is a matteღr 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 are💜as.” 

Krack has no plans to make wholesale changes or bring in people he knows and trusts from his previous jobs, 𒅌insisting he wants to keep intact the fundamental DNA that ‘Tea♔m Silverstone’ has built its F1 legacy on. 

The Force India/Racing Point/Aston Martin operation is, after all, a team that is rﷺenowned for punching above its weight with limited resources, highlighted 🐽by finishing fourth in the constructors’ championship in 2016, 2017 and 2020. 

What to expect from Aston Martin’s new F1 team principal

“I think you have to approach this in a humble way,” Krack explained. “You h🎶ave to first come here and understand how this team is working, because we must not forget Team Silverstone is a great team. 

“For all these years it always o𓆏ver-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, w𓆉here we can improve on some of the weaknesses it’s having. 

“At the moment I have a lot of ꦏdiscussions with individuals - with team leaders, with department leaders - to understand how the team is run, how the system is operating. 

ℱ“And I think 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. 

“So I take a conservative approach there, try to learn as much as possible, try to bring my philosophy into it, try to bring my thinking into it, which is always positive teamwork because motivation co🐲mes by itself. 

“The people here a⛦re extremely motivated, you can believe me - so it’s a matter of channeling this properly.” 

What to expect from Aston Martin’s new F1 team principal

Following the Silverstone-outfit’s rebrand to Aston Martin, the goal posts have moved. Finances are no longer an issue and F1’s rules res🥂et presents a key opportunity for the team to push further up the grid after the disappointment of slippi🍃ng down to P7 in 2021. 

Aston Martin is embarking🐼 on year two of Stroll’s five-year plan to tra♛nsform his team into F1 championship challengers and winners, and Krack’s arrival marks the latest in a series of major signings that have included the capture of new technical director Dan Fallows from Red Bull. 

Aston Martin’s lofty plans include the construction of a new F1 campus at Si꧟lverstone that will feature a state-of-the-art windtunnel, with the main building scheduled to be completed by late 2022 or early 2023. 

Five-year F1 plans haven’t always worked out. Renault/Alpine still appears someꦕway off its goal to re-establish itself as a winning force in F1, a goal it initi🌠ally set when it returned to full works status in 2016. 

Krack himself has similar experi🦹ence from the BMW Sauber era. Following a bright start to๊ the 2008 season and after Robert Kubica had taken the team's first F1 victory by leading a 1-2 at Canada, the team took the unusual decision to stop developing its car to focus on the 2009 regulations.

At the time of his win, Kubica was leading the championship and BMW sat second. Kubica even☂tually slipped to fourth, while BMW finished the year third.

What to expect from Aston Martin’s new F1 team principal


BMW's gamble to priotise 2009 ultimately backfired and a disillusioned Krack left the team. Krack can see "blatant" parallels with what is happening at Aston Martin but this time, he is determined to make sure the same mistakes are not repeated. 

“We areꦬ a lean management structure and we can make decisions very quickly and be very flexible,” he explained. “So we have big possibilities and we have a qu🌼ick decision path. 

“I think this is an asset that not eveℱrybody is having, and obviously you cannot plan success, this is clear, but you can put everything in place to achieve it.

“At BMW, we also had a five year plan at the time. It was handled in a very corporaꦚte manner, which is some꧋thing we must avoid at all costs here. 

"So I think at this stage we have everything we need, but we 🗹need to make the right decisions and it doesn’t come by itself - that we have to be very aware of. 

“It requires hard work over many ꦑdays, many weeks and many months.” 

So is Krack feeling the pressure of the task ♎aℱhead of him? 

“I think Formula 1 is like the Champions League and every professional football player wants to play in the Champions League,❀” he said. “It’s the same for motorsport with an engineer or a driver. 

“So from that point 𝔉of vie🍌w it’s the ultimate place to be. In terms of the ambition at Aston Martin, yes the pressure is there but I think you have to turn it into positive pressure. 

“Yes we want to ꦬsucceed - we have to s꧑ucceed - but also we spend so much time and so much budget, it’s not for being second or participating. 

“Obviously you can𝓡not switch and be performing or winning from the first day - others hꦗave tried that for a long time. 

“At the end of the day it's a huge challenge but it’s also a huge oppo🍸rtunity that we have now and with the Aston brand, I think we have all the ingredients that yꦦou need to be successful.”

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