Aston Martin will finally introduce a significant evolution of its AMR26 in Hungary. But Mike Krack admits that a crucial question still remains unanswered.
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After a particularly complicated start to the season, Aston Martin is preparing to launch the most significant evolution of its AMR26 at the Hungarian Grand Prix.
The Silverstone team is relying heavily on this new aerodynamic package, developed under the direction of Adrian Newey, to relaunch a campaign that has been very disappointing so far.
But a few days before its introduction, a doubt still remains.
“That’s the million-dollar question”
Asked about the availability of new parts and spare elements, Mike Krack did not hide that the subject remained particularly sensitive.
“That’s the million-dollar question.”
The head of track operations explains that the entire factory is working tirelessly to ensure that both single-seaters are ready on time.
“Everyone is working hard to manufacture the parts and prepare the cars. When you choose to introduce such a significant package all at once, it’s a huge challenge.”
Logistics under pressure
Aston Martin deliberately refrained from bringing small evolutions since the start of the season in order to concentrate all its efforts on this major update.
Meanwhile, its competitors continued to progress, to the point that the team found itself very far off the pace in Belgium, with a delay of about two seconds behind Cadillac in qualifying.
Krack, however, remains optimistic.
“I’m an optimist, so I think we will indeed have two cars ready to race.”
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Backup plans already in place
The Luxembourger nevertheless acknowledges that Aston Martin will not have a large stock of spare parts.
“I don’t think we’ll have five copies of each part, to be honest.”
The team has therefore anticipated several scenarios so as not to depend on a single component.
“We have prepared different plans. If a part doesn’t arrive on time, can we use another solution? We have planned several alternatives.”
Even if not all parts will be available in duplicate, Krack believes that the work done in recent weeks will limit the risks.
“We won’t have a backup for absolutely everything, but everyone has done an excellent job of planning mitigation measures as well as Plan B if one or two components were missing.”
This evolution represents a major turning point for Aston Martin. If the new package delivers on its promises, the team hopes to finally get closer to the midfield before receiving a new evolution of the Honda power unit after the summer break, at the Dutch Grand Prix.
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