Over at Aston Martin, there is an ongoing sense of positivity as its famed Team Principal keeps abreast of one driver’s hard work back at base.
Aston Martin reserve driver Jak Crawford has detailed the team’s positive approach to reversing its current Formula 1 struggles, and how his behind-the-scenes work is getting the attention of Adrian Newey.
The American in the midst of his third season with the Silverstone-based squad, during which time he has been quietly beavering away in the background to help the team secure results on a race weekend.
Such dedication from the former Formula 2 driver is needed more than ever right now, with the team navigating its way out of some highly-public problems that stretches back to last year.
The AMR26 challenger’s lateness in development has been a cornerstone of its on-track woes which has been as equally fraught due to its Honda power unit.
Its marked improvement in Hungary – having brought a 16-item-strong upgrades suite – was notable, and with Honda’s B-spec engine mooted for the following round in Zandvoort, things are most certianly looking up.
Crawford sat down for an exclusive interview with Motorsport Week during the weekend of the Belgian GP, and when asked if he finds additional benefit with the knowledge of effectively going to work for people such as Newey and Chief Technical Officer – and formerly of Ferrari – Enrico Cardile, he explained how both men are constantly keeping abreast of his work.
“Yeah, yeah, it is [a privilege],” he said. “We have great people on the team and I think, always my favourite part is when I do my simulator sessions.
“I know that all the top engineers on our team, you know, Adrian and Enrico, they’re all listening in to the simulator sessions, seeing what I’ve done and [that] makes your work is being seen and paying off. So that’s quite cool to see and we have so many great engineers in the team.
“Even here at the track every weekend, it’s great to be able to have a great relationship with them as well.”
‘No reason not to be positive for the future’ of Aston Martin
It would be easy to surmise that the atmosphere at Aston Martin must be one of abject misery, having fallen from strong midfield contenders to backmarkers in such a short space of time.
But the morale within its ranks is growing all the time, and Crawford credited the team’s outstanding work ethic and shared his belief that the corner will be turned soon.
“Yeah, for sure,” he said, when asked if he feels an integral part of a group to galvanise the team as a whole. “I’d say I’m a very happy person even when it’s all not so good.
“But yeah, I feel like we have a great team of people here in the team. You know, for some reasons – I don’t even know – it hasn’t worked out at the beginning of this year.
“So I feel like everyone’s worked really hard [and] eventually they deserve [for things to improve] and I think it will eventually happen that we can be competitive. So I see no reason not to be happy or positive for the future.”
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