Aston Martin Chief Likens Team Simulator To Star Wars As 'Yoda' Joins The Team In '25

Aston Martin team principal Mike Krack has revealed that the team's new simulator "is really like Star Wars." When asked about Adrian Newey, who was humorously referred to as the iconic character 'Yoda,' Krack shared his excitement about Newey’s arrival in March 2025. He revealed that the team is eagerly anticipating Newey's onboarding to help elevate its performance following a lackluster 2024 season.

Compared to the 2023 season, where Aston Martin secured eight podium finishes and finished fifth in the Constructors' Standings with 280 points, the 2024 season saw the Silverstone outfit struggle to finish races within the points and scored just 94 points by the season's end. The main reason for the team's problems was the AMR24 F1 car, which the team found tricky to deal with since none of the upgrades the team introduced throughout the season managed to improve performance significantly.

While most F1 teams have been struck by the complexities of the ground effect era since 2022, Aston Martin seems to be one of the most affected, as it now hopes that its new managing technical partner and shareholder, Newey, will help overcome the problem and elevate the team's position on the race track and in the championship.

Newey was Red Bull's chief technical officer and was responsible for designing its dominant F1 cars. The most popular car was 2023's RB19, which helped the team secure 21 Grand Prix wins out of 22 races in the season, 19 of which were won by Max Verstappen, leading him to secure his third world championship title.

Krack was asked by a fan on the team's YouTube channel if Adrian Newey is like the Yoda of F1 and what he would bring to the team next year. The Aston Martin team boss answered:

“I think Adrian will be the force to bring us forward, but I like the analogy [to Yoda].

“The new simulator is really like Star Wars.

“All in all, I think it’s a great step forward for us. And once it is fully in use, I think it will be a great benefit.”

Aston Martin celebrated Alonso's eight podium finishes last year to the tune of “Oh Fernando Alonso,” and Krack hopes that his team will soon get back to celebrating in a similar manner. He said:

“Unfortunately, this year we did not have much to sing about and that is not good.

“We introduced that [song] last year. I remember very well, at the first race.

“So let’s try to do our best so that we can cheer and sing that song again.”

Replying to another fan on concerns about the 2026 season, Krack said:

"We are all trying to balance 2025 and 2026 [development] as much as we can.

“At the moment, it’s full steam ahead with 2025 but with an eye on 2026.

“And we will have Yoda soon helping us and his force, so nothing can go wrong for 2026.”