Strong car crucial if Aston Martin to keep Vettel - Krack

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New Aston Martin principal Mike Krack has acknowledged that the team's ability to hold on to star driver Sebastian Vettel beyond the end of the 2022 season depends on how good t car they can provide him.

Vettel himself has said that his future on the sport depends on being able to win races and compete for more titles rather than just making up the numbers on the Formula 1 grid.

Krack - who was race engineer when Vettel made his F1 bow with BMW Sauber in Turkey back in 2006 - agreed with the former Red Bull and Ferrari driver's thinking, and said it put the responsibility on the team to come up with the goods.

Read also: Vettel 'mostly interested in winning' in future

“It’s clear that a guy like Sebastian - a four-time world champion - he doesn’t want to be 15th or 12th or P8," the 49-year-old from Luxembourg told the media this week.

“It’s our task to deliver a performing car - or, say, a performing structure.

"Sebastian is a clever guy. He will not be focusing just on this year’s car or whatever but focusing more on what is happening and if he sees the potential.

"If we can manage to offer this to him, I think we have a chance to keep him for longer," he said. "All in all it is our task to deliver the right package, then Sebastian will stay and other drivers will like to join.

"To be honest with you, I have not spoken with him about it," he admitted. "This is something that will have to come.

"What matters here most is being transparent about what we expect, about where we are," he explained. "This is something I also did with all of the drivers I had in the past with my former employer.

“He does not have to be always the island of comfort for everyone," Krack continued. "But I think it’s very important for such high-class drivers that they feel the support of the team."

©AstonMartin

Krack certainly believes that Aston Martin is a better operation in that regard than Ferrari where relations between management and Vettel soured before his departure at the end of 2020.

"He is a very nice guy. He manages to surround the team around him not by being nice all the time, but being respectful.

“This is an ethic that I largely share, so that’s also one of the reasons I think why we get along very well."

At the same time, Krack admitted that much had changed since they had first worked together 16 years ago.

“Compared to when I knew him last, he is now a four-time world champion. He has accrued a huge amount of experience," he explained. "He knows exactly what he needs to go faster.

"From that point of view, I think it’s great to have him because he can steer us as a team in our development.”

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Andrew Lewin

Andrew first became a fan of Formula 1 during the time when Michael Schumacher and Damon Hill were stepping into the limelight after the era of Alain Prost, Nigel Mansell and Aryton Senna. He's been addicted ever since, and has been writing about the sport now for nearly a quarter of a century for a number of online news sites. He's also written professionally about GP2 (now Formula 2), GP3, IndyCar, World Rally Championship, MotoGP and NASCAR. In his other professional life, Andrew is a freelance writer, social media consultant, web developer/programmer, and digital specialist in the fields of accessibility, usability, IA, online communities and public sector procurement. He worked for many years in magazine production at Bauer Media, and for over a decade he was part of the digital media team at the UK government's communications department. Born and raised in Essex, Andrew currently lives and works in south-west London.