The “humble” approach of Mike Krack at Aston Martin

Former BMW and Porsche member, Mike Krack, has taken over as team principal of Aston Martin after the departure of Otmar Szafnauer to the French team Alpine. The Luxembourger is slowly settling in with this team and the impressive staff that makes it up, while a brand new factory is being built on the Silverstone side.

And Mike Krack’s approach to Lawrence Stroll’s team is rather humble. « I think we must have this humble approach, that we must first go to this team and understand how it works. Because we must not forget that this “Silverstone team” is an excellent team that has been able to exceed its limits in recent years. And it is important to find where its strengths lie and where we can make them stronger, and find the weaknesses that we can improve », explains Krack.

« At the moment, we have a lot of personal discussions with team and department leaders to understand how the whole system works. And I think it would be crazy to overturn every stone and reorganize everything. The team has had good results, it just needs a few small things to move to the next step.

But it’s not by turning things upside down that we’re going to do it. I have a conservative approach, I try to learn as much as possible, try to bring my philosophy and reflection into it, which is always a positive team effort, because the motivation comes naturally. Especially since the people here are extremely motivated, you can trust me on that. So it’s about managing it properly, he continues.

No replacements planned at Aston Martin.

Despite everything, Mike Krack does not intend to integrate his numerous past relationships within the team because, for him, it is necessary above all to work with the members already present.

« I don’t plan on bringing in new people. I don’t have a long list of names that I want to bring here. The fact is that I have a good network at Porsche, at BMW, and others, and you know that the motorsports community is very large », reveals the Luxembourgish. « I think it is important to understand how these people can be an asset to the team, and who won’t be?

“The structure of a constructor is a bit different from that of a Formula 1 team. And not everyone who works well in a constructor necessarily works as well in F1, because it’s a whole different ball game,” explains Mike Krack.

He concludes: “So in my network, there are a few people that I consider very, very talented. But I think I would be wrong to come here on the second day and say that we need to bring in this person or that person. It’s important to look at our structure. What are the strengths and weaknesses? And there are talented people here, I mean really, really talented.”

If we need someone in a specific position and I think of someone in our network, then yes, I will make suggestions and ensure that we choose the best possible person. But that doesn’t mean I want to replace the people we have with others that I know. Not at all.

With Sebastian Vettel and Lance Stroll at the helm of the AMR22, the question remains whether Mike Krack will allow the former Racing Point to climb up the rankings after their seventh position in 2021.