Aston Martin trackside chief Mike Krack has admitted to a “$1 million question” plaguing the team ahead of its much-anticipated Formula 1 upgrade package at this weekend’s Hungarian Grand Prix.
The Silverstone-based squad has endured a torrid season so far, having been relegated to the back of the field due to a myriad of reliability and performance issues
Several of the problems have been, to some extent, eradicated by the team and its engine manufacturer Honda, but the competitiveness is still yet to be found, having been somewhat close to the dreaded 107 percent qualifying rule at last weekend’s Belgian Grand Prix.
But the upgrade for the AMR26 looks to be ready, and the 2.0 version of the car will take to the track at the Hungaroring this weekend, with an ADUO-assisted engine upgrade set for the following race in Holland, after the sport’s resumption from its summer hiatus.
However, Krack admitted to media, including Motorsport Week, at Spa-Francorchamps, that there is a race against time to complete the parts required, and could still have a shortage if some are completed.
“This is the $1 million question,” he said. “Everybody is working flat out to get the parts, to get the cars ready.
“It is a big undertaking if you decide to do it like this, because you always try to push the deadlines as far as you can. So, it’s a big effort going on at the AMRTC at the moment, and I’m a positive thinker, so I think we will have two cars ready to go.
“Now, I don’t think we will have five spares of each, to be honest.”
Krack looks for ‘plan Bs’ ahead of Aston Martin upgrades revelation
Krack underlined his “positive thinker” attitude thus, stating that the team has “done a good job” to implement solutions for all possible eventualities.
“You always have to put scenarios in place for if you have this and not this, because you cannot make yourself dependent on one part missing and then you cannot do it,” he continued.
“So, there are plans in place, like ‘what if we don’t have that?’ ‘Can we run this?’
“Again, you will not have a full backup for everything. But, I think everybody has done a good job in trying to put mitigations in place, but also to have plan Bs for if one or two components don’t make it.”
Aston will be hoping for a semblance of positivity in Budapest, which would give the Honda upgrade an accompaniment in Zandvoort to kickstart the second half of the season on a more positive note.
READ MORE – Isack Hadjar rues ongoing bad luck amid remarkable F1 comeback at Spa
Discussion about this post