Aston Martin team boss Mike Krack says the scrutiny his outfit is receiving for not finishing among the top three in recent races is "a complement" that shows that Team Silverstone is actually doing its job this season.
Aston Martin hit the ground running at the start of the year, with Fernando Alonso delivering consecutive podiums in Bahrain, Saudi Arabia and Australia.
The Spaniard added two more top-three finishes in Miami and In Monaco, and another runner-up spot in Canada.
However, Aston could only achieve a P5 and a P7 in Austria and in Great Britain, which has led to suggestions that the team is losing ground to its Mercedes and Ferrari rivals, and perhaps also to McLaren.
But Krack notes that pundits are simply expecting more from Aston Martin than they did before, and that's a compliment towards the team's work in the eyes of the Aston boss.
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"I think that is the interesting or the nice part of it. The level of expectation has risen from six podiums," commented Krack, quoted by Motorsport.com.
"I think we sit here now with six podiums in 10 races. It's normal, that the expectations are high. And we will continue to try and fulfil the expectations.
"I think it's a compliment that we have these expectations, it shows that we have done the job.
"Even if it was six podiums in 22, I think it will be very respectable season compared to where we come from, and what our targets for the season were. But we will not give up now and let it go."
©AstonMartin
At Silverstone, Alonso and teammate Lance Stroll qualified respectively 9th and 12th, but only the former made it into the points on race day, with the Spaniard concluding his British Grand Prix P7.
Looking back on the weekend, Krack says that Aston was in damage limitation mode at Silverstone.
"Verdict is damage limitation," he said. "I would say we did not have the performance that we wanted to have on Saturday, Sunday.
"And to go away with scoring more points than Ferrari, I think you can call it damage limitation."
Krack reckons that Aston's single lap pace needs a boost, insisting "qualifying is key" and a prerequisite for better results on race day.
"Especially on circuits where you struggle more to pass like the one that will come, although it is now much easier than it used to be," he said, referring to next week's Hungarian Grand Prix.
"But I think qualifying performance is key to finish at the front in F1 wherever you go.
"The statistics do not lie. It’s a general improvement that we need to bring on to the car. But it starts with analysing your weaknesses from the current events."
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