F1 News: Aston Martin Chief Questions Performance Deficit - "What Have We Not Done Enough?"
Aston Martin team principal Mike Krack emphasized that the team's move to the new Silverstone campus should not be cited as the cause for a decline in performance. Instead, Krack pointed out that the team's inability to introduce substantial upgrades, unlike its competitors, was the actual reason behind the performance decline.
Aston Martin kicked off the 2023 season strongly, securing six podiums in the first eight Grands Prix with Fernando Alonso. Initially, it appeared that the team could emerge as a significant challenger to Red Bull by the season's end.
However, as F1 approached mid-season, the team started to fall back because competitors like Mercedes, Ferrari, and Red Bull introduced significant upgrades that were superior to the development direction the team took on the AMR23.
In addition, the team moved into an all-new facility around the same period, which is more advanced and features an in-house wind tunnel. When the team boss was asked if the shift to the new campus was a distraction that was reflected in the results, he denied it by saying to Motorsport.com:
"I'm not the kind of guy that looks for excuses. We knew before that we would move. We knew before that we were expanding. We knew before that we were still growing. So if you know that before, you can plan all these things, and you should not use it as an excuse – it's too easy.
"When we started the season, we were confident that we had made a good step forward. And we were surprised that others were struggling.
"But then, the competition started to improve, and we did not manage this improvement. We also had our upgrades, but we never made such big steps with our upgrades as our competition did. This resulted in others slipping in between.
"So the gap to the fastest car, which is the objective that we're using, has not changed that much over the season. But now, there are three or four different teams in between, whereas in the beginning, there was none, you know?
"So it's basically: what has the competition done, and what have we not done enough? But having too much on our plate doesn't matter."
