Aston Martin cannot be 'dissapointed' with slump after 'brutal' inquests

Mike Krack has dismissed labelling the second-half of 2023 as a "disappointment" for Aston Martin after it failed to maintain its early momentum.

Fernando Alonso bagged six podiums in the first eight races as Aston Martin started the year as the second best team behind Red Bull.

However, mid-season upgrades did not work as expected and the team was out-developed by Mercedes, Ferrari and McLaren as it slipped to fifth in the standings, finishing on 280 points, 225 more than it scored in 2022.

Alonso also finished fourth in the Drivers' for Aston's best-ever result in an F1 season as Krack explained why the overall campaign must not be seen as a failure despite the inability to keep the AMR23 fighting at the front for the entire year.

'Brutal" Aston

"It is not a disappointment, because you need to be realistic about where you are, and we started the year in a very good position," Krack told media including RacingNews365.

"But we also need to analyse why have we been in that position - and if you really analyse that and be realistic about where you are, then it cannot be a disappointment.

"We were surprised, and I think everybody was at some teams not coming out of the starting blocks as we expected them to, and then by developing, they came back to their more natural position.

"That is something we cannot influence, with the fire power that we have, so from that point of view, I think it is wrong to say that this part [of the season] is a disappointment.

"It it something we know that we need to work on for the future if we want to become a stronger team, but it is not correct to put this as a disappointment."

Performance Director Tom McCullough also pointed out how Aston's best result of the season, a three-four in Australia was still subject to "brutal" debriefs.

"We're brutal with ourselves, and very understanding-led as opposed to results-led," he explained.

"We came away from Melbourne and finished third and fourth, so you can say: 'Well done' and pat yourself on the back, but we were clearly the fourth fastest team at that circuit with those characteristics, and that was race three.

"We took a look at all that data, we understood why and that's all part of the feed into the development of the car. That is the reality.

"We are brutal post-race weekend, it doesn't matter what result we've got, it is 'Where are we good, where are we bad and what do we need to work on?'"