Mike Krack believes Aston Martin has “confidence” in a positive performance at this weekend’s Spanish Grand Prix after taking what he described as a “good step” at Monza last time out.
The Silverstone-based squad is firmly still in the phase of trial and error with its myriad of upgrades, both on car and engine, and last week’s race at the Temple of Speed was always expected to be a tough weekend.
Having made Q2 in Hungary, Fernando Alonso made good work of the AMR26 to finish ninth in Zandvoort – the team’s best result of the season.
But Monza’s fast characteristics were always going to plague its work-in-progress Honda power unit, despite its ADUO-assisted upgrades.
But speaking to media, including Motorsport Week, at the Madring ahead of its inaugural Grand Prix, Krack spoke of the positives taken from Italy.
“Well, I’m happy with the step that has been taken in Monza,” he said. “And I said already before, your drivability is a big subject. It’s not only the engine, it’s not only the chassis, it’s really the combination of both.
“The downshift, the brakes, how is the tyre condition, what is the speed you have arrived, super clip, or whatever. So, there’s a lot of elements playing into this.
“But I’m really happy with the step we have taken together in Monza. Now, the performance was not great in Monza, that is clear. But for a track like this one here, it’s good to have that, because it gives confidence, and confidence is the only way where you can attack when the walls are so close. So, it’s a good step.
“I think Orihara-san [Shintaro Orihara, his Honda counterpart] will agree with me, drivability is never good enough. You always can improve, and we will continue working on that as we have done the whole season. But I’m confident, or I’m happy that we have taken that step.”
READ MORE – FIA confirms crucial Madring decision ahead of F1 debut
Discussion about this post