Aston Martin F1 team boss Mike Krack has made clear that his crews cannot afford to sit idle and wait for the arrival of Adrian Newey to bring about a turnaround in its on-track performance.
The legendary designer, whose move from Red Bull to Aston Martin is a major coup for Canadian billionaire and team owner Lawrence Stroll, will join the Silverstone-based outfit on March 1, 2025.
The partnership between Stroll's bold vision and Newey's technical brilliance is expected to be a game-changer for Aston as it looks to battle at the sharp end of the grid.
Aston Martin, which enjoyed podium contention in the first half of last season with Fernando Alonso, has seen its performance gradually slip to stabilize in F1's midfield.
But battling for lower-ranking points instead of fighting among the front-runners is not an acceptable state of affairs as far as Krack is concerned.
While the prospect of Newey joining is exciting, especially in the context of the upcoming 2026 regulations, Krack insists that Aston Martin must use the intervening period to step up its game.
Speaking about how hard it is to balance the excitement for Newey with the team's current difficulties, Krack acknowledged: “Very hard. “Absolutely.”
“But I think we should also use '25 as an opportunity to show Adrian what we can do. I think that should serve as a motivation for all of us,” he added, quoted by Motorsport.com.
©AstonMartin
While Newey currently remains involved with the development of Red Bull's RB17 hypercar, the Briton is no longer part of the Formula 1 team, having officially started his period of gardening leave.
The extent to which Krack can seek input from Newey before its official start date is still under review.
“I don't know,” he said. “I need to check with our legal department.
“I think you need to be very careful with these things. You know, we do not want to get into legal [matters] going forward. That wouldn't just feel right.”
Regarding Aston's current form, which has left it just fifth in F1's Constructors' standings, a massive 243 points behind fourth-placed team Mercedes, Krack acknowledged his outfit's shortcomings.
“We are not where we want to be,” he said. “Our target was clearly to close the gap to the top four teams.
“At the beginning of the season, we knew that we were around the fifth-fastest at the time, and the target was to close that gap.
“We have not managed that. Others have more caught up than we have closed. So that is the reality and that is something we have to understand and address.”
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