Aston Martin chief reacts after poor run of form: ‘Lawrence is not happy’

Aston Martin team principal Mike Krack revealed owner Lawrence Stroll “is not happy” with the F1 team’s current run of form.

Aston were the surprise package at the start of the season, consistently the second quickest team on the grid behind Red Bull with Fernando Alonso claiming five podiums in the first six races.

However, the team’s performance has declined since the summer break and they have dropped from P2 in the constructors’ championship to P5, with Mercedes, Ferrari and now McLaren all overtaking them.

Mexico City last weekend was a new low, with both Alonso and Lance Stroll retiring from the race, and Krack insisted the team need to be “open-minded” to turn it around quickly.

“Lawerence is not happy, but we are not happy either,” said Krack. “Nobody is happy. When you have such a great start to the season and then you lose competitiveness, nobody is happy.

“We don’t need him to tell us, but we also have to accept that he is not. It’s the situation that we are in, we are a strong team and we will have to work collaboratively, open-minded, to get out of it.

“But we are not too proud to take any decisions.”

Aston’s improvement from last season – when they finished seventh in the championship standings – has still been substantial but it will be a source of disappointment that in-season upgrades have not improved the pace of the car in the same way similar updates have for the likes of McLaren.

Krack, however, is hopeful of an improvement in the last three races of the season in Brazil, Las Vegas and Abu Dhabi.

“That [to be better next year] is the best recipe obviously, but it would be quite important to manage a little bit of a turnaround,” he added.

“The last weekends have been quite difficult in terms of results. In terms of learning they have been a bit more positive but we are measured on our results and our outcomes, so despite all the learning it is important that we finish on some good results.”