Aston Martin is lagging behind the competition and struggling with problems during testing in Bahrain: Fernando Alonso remains relaxed and promises a “solution.”
On the fourth day of Formula 1 testing in Bahrain, the start of the second week of testing, Aston Martin is once again lagging behind the competition. Although the gap to the front runners has apparently been reduced, Adrian Newey’s team still has a lot of work to do.
However, two-time world champion Fernando Alonso remains relaxed. “I think everything can be fixed in the short and medium term,” said the Spaniard on Wednesday in Bahrain. “I don’t think anything is impossible to solve. But we’ll have to wait and see.”
He added: “We’ll try to fix everything we can before Australia and then get as many things sorted as possible in the first few races before it’s too late in the championship. I’m optimistic and I think there’s already a solution.”
Mike Krack admits: Problems in all areas
Mike Krack, former team boss and currently Trackside Engineering Officer at Aston Martin, admits that his team was simply too late. “It was good that we went to Barcelona, but we weren’t really ready,” the Luxembourger admits in retrospect.
As a result, the test drives in both Barcelona and Bahrain did not go as the team had hoped. “There are lots of little problems that prevent you from driving, and they affect all areas of the car,” reveals Krack.
“We also know that we have new electronics, new partners, a new gearbox, and a new suspension,” says the engineer, reminding us that a lot has changed at Aston Martin over the winter. “So it’s difficult to isolate a single area.”
It would be easier if there was only one issue to fix and you could focus all your energy on that. But that’s not the case at Aston Martin. “So I think it was probably our late start that put us in a slightly more difficult situation in terms of reliability,” says Krack.
Lack of reliability a major disadvantage
“If you don’t rack up the laps – and I think we have about three times fewer laps than some of the top competitors – then you’re behind and you have to be realistic,” adds the Trackside Engineering Officer. “Then you have to catch up.”
“There’s no other way, but they’re not waiting for us. We really have to do our best not to fall behind,” says Krack. “Every lap you don’t drive is a lap you’re missing, and you have to catch up. So it wasn’t a fantastic start.”
Aston Martin knows that it is not yet at the same level as its competitors and that there is still a lot of work to be done before the season starts in Australia. Mike Krack’s approach is therefore clear: “We need to focus, look at our problems, and solve them step by step.”