Aston Martin Team Principal Mike Krack has defended his driver Lance Stroll, after the Canadian picked up penalty points for two separate incidents during the Australian Grand Prix weekend. Stroll received a two-point penalty for his part in a collision with Nicholas Latifi during qualifying at Melbourne, followed by another point in the race for excessive weaving to defend his position. Since 2014, any driver who racks up 12 penalty points over the course of any 12-month period earns an automatic one-race ban for the following Grand Prix, and Stroll's Melbourne misdemeanours take his 12-month tally up to seven as of 18 April. However, Krack suggested after the race that a combination of the FIA's new leadership team and the recalcitrant nature of the Aston Martin AMR22 had played a role in Stroll's penalties. "I think we need to learn how the new Race Directors govern [the races]. We learned a little bit the hard way [in Melbourne]. But we will keep it under control," Krack told media, including RacingNews365.com . "Obviously, when the car is not as easy as you want it, then the drivers try as much as possible to defend. "So it's a combination of new ways of governance, but that would be too easy to say. "If we had a better car, we would not have these issues."
Krack expecting "big challenge" at Aston Martin
Under the ownership of Lawrence Stroll - father of Lance - Aston Martin have embarked on an ambitious recruitment and expansion programme in recent years, including building a new factory and hiring several high-profile appointees to key positions. However, the team have struggled badly on track so far in 2022, and are the only outfit yet to score a championship point after three rounds of the season. Krack himself only joined the British squad in January, and says he was under no illusions as to the size of the task that awaited him. "I had a lot of questions when I was approached for this position, and when I got the answers for these questions, I knew that this was going to be a big challenge," said Krack. "But it would have been easy to run away from it, so I was never going to expect that it was easy. "I have to say, the first three races were not easy. But at the end of the day, Formula 1 is Formula 1, it's hard. "You have to have a quick car, you have to make no mistakes, you have to have good drivers, so the whole thing is not together at the moment."
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