Can Aston Martin beat Red Bull? Krack: 'Last year we got better'

Mike Krack, Aston Martin's team boss, had a great day on Sunday. Not only did Fernando Alonso's car land on the podium in Bahrain, in terms of race pace, Aston Martin seemed to be the second team on the grid. To GPblog and others, the Luxembourger addressed their chances.

Many expected that Aston Martin would be stronger than last year. But them being as competitive is a surprise. So what is actually the strength of the AMR23? "We need to analyse it first. It was a very intense first weekend. We have now better references than we had before the weekend. I think we need to sit down and analyse properly where is our strenghth, where are our weaknesses and then, as usual, work on the weaknesses."

Can Aston Martin beat Red Bull?

Red Bull has less time in the wind tunnel than Aston Martin this year and also received a fine from the FIA for exceeding the budget cap in 2021. By further developing the car, could Aston Martin overtake Red bull? "We wanted to make a step forward, we did not say we want to beat Red Bull. Let's keep our feet on the ground and work hard, because it could be that in Jeddah we are maybe the fourth, fifth or sixth team in terms of team ranking. We have to enjoy today and then we continue to see how it goes on," Krack tempered expectations.

Development plan for Aston Martin

Can the British team make the same strides this year as they did during last season? "Last year we managed to get better through the year, but we also saw how difficult that is given the intensity that you have with racing and the cost cap. You are really tight. We have a development plan and this is independent of Red Bull."