Aston Martin ‘not holding back’ in development battle with Mercedes and Ferrari

Mike Krack is adamant Aston Martin is pacing itself in this season’s F1 development war and not getting sucked into the plans of rivals Mercedes and Ferrari.

The team has so far been steady with regard to updates as it continues to build on the solid platform provided by the AMR23 which has been the surprise of the season to date.

After the opening five grands prix, Aston Martin is in a deserved second place in the constructors’ championship but clearly faces a fight to the wire to hold on to that spot against the might of Mercedes and Ferrari, who are six and 24 points adrift respectively.

Mercedes is set to unveil a major upgrade for next weekend’s Emilia Romagna Grand Prix in Imola, whilst Ferrari is attempting to unlock race pace to match its fine form in qualifying in which it can occasionally be a match for Red Bull.

Addressing what to expect over the next few races, team principal Krack said: “We’re pushing quite hard on the developments, and we’re quite confident that for the next few events, the data differences will not be too big as the development race goes on.

“But then what comes after, say mid-season, we cannot say at this stage, because you have to see then who has spent how much and where you are at that stage, and you will also have the new car (for 2024) to develop.

“We’re not really observing too much what their (Mercedes and Ferrari) situation is, where they are coming from, what they do next.

“We do our thing, we have our plan, and it will not change so much if one or the other team brings upgrades every race. This cannot change our plan, otherwise, we are always reactive.

“It’s important you define yourself, you put a roadmap in place, you define what you need when, and you follow it.

“Obviously, you need to react left and right, depending on how your development goes but you should not get too carried away with what others are doing.”

Aston won’t be rushed into changes

Krack maintains it was always vital his team took its time to understand the car it has provided for Fernando Alonso and Lance Stroll this season, and which has allowed the former to score four third-place finishes.

Whilst Krack is naturally eager for Aston Martin to make inroads into Red Bull’s advantage, he is also mindful of the fact they should not rush into making potentially unnecessary changes.

“That was something that was defined at an early stage, that it is important you learn as much as possible about the car you have before you rush into making changes too quickly,” he added.

“We have seen, for example with Baku (the Azerbaijan GP), it was always a no-go for us to bring an update there because the risk was just too high.

“And then you see during the season where does it make sense to bring what.

“But we are not holding back. We’re just following the plan.”

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