Aston Martin settling into new base after initial concerns

Aston Martin team principal Mike Krack admitted that the squad had some initial teething problems when it moved into the new state of the art AMR Technology Campus at Silverstone.

Aston had been working out of what had originally been the old Jordan factory but that had been increasingly out of date, affecting what the team could do with its development programme.

Plans for a completely new headquarters were revealed after Lawrence Stroll and his consortium took over control of the former Force India team, but construction was delayed by the outbreak of the COVID pandemic.

The team finally completed the first phase of its move just before the British Grand Prix over the summer, and the old factory has now been demolished.

While undoubtedly a huge step forward for the team, Krack admitted that there had been concerns about how the relocation would affect the flow and efficiency of operations in the middle of a season.

"We were a bit concerned with the change in working environment and working conditions," he told the media. "You always need a bit of time to adapt, but the time was really short.

• Read also: We must give our drivers 'better tools' - Krack

"It is quite good now. If you want to see where we are with a new part, you just go downstairs and you can see it," he said. "It has already brought us a major step forward."

"You can see the designers, people from production discussing with their managers," he added. "It's working really well."

Aston had enjoyed a brilliant start to the season, with Fernando Alonso finishing five of his first six outings with the team on the podium after moving from Alpine over the winter.

But the team suffered a slight set-back during the summer after admitting that it had done down a wrong development path until resetting in time over the summer break allowing it to snatch second place in the Dutch GP.

"I think we have," he confirmed when asked if he was confident that the team had turned a corner. "But it is only one event where we managed to get a little better compared to previous races.

"We need to be careful not to translate too much into it straightaway," he cautioned. "It's important that you confirm what you have seen in some form.

"We also shouldn't forget that some of our competitors also had some issues [in Zandvoort] - strategic, or maybe not starting in the right place.

"I would not put too much into it," he concluded. "We did make a small step forward, but we need to confirm it over the races to come."

Alonso looked off-colour last week and finished in ninth place, while his team mate Lance Stroll didn't get any running in Friday practice and started the race from the back of the grid, finishing in P15.

Aston Martin was not alone in struggling at Monza with its long sweeping corners and low downforce settings. It is hoping that next week's Singapore Grand Prix on the streets of Manila Bay will prove more suited to the AMR23.

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