"Let's not start dreaming" - Aston Martin dismisses performance gains over F1 pre-season testing

Aston Martin F1 team principal Mike Krack revealed that the team will have to keep its feet on the ground and manage expectations heading into the season's first race next week.

The British team caught the attention of everyone in the paddock with its AMR23 and its long-running performance in the first three days of pre-season testing in Bahrain. Many have even claimed that the team might even challenge Mercedes for P3 in the championship this season and will be clear of the midfield.

Speaking to RacingNews365, the Aston Martin team principal said:

"The race simulation was certainly not bad, but we must also not forget the track conditions were really good. You had a lot of rubber, because there [were] other teams [using] new tires, a lot of times also with soft rubber – this is helping when you do a race simulation."

He added:

"It's nice to have good long runs, but you need to put them in the right context, and let's not start dreaming. I think Fernando said it earlier, there are no miracles in F1."

"Our goal was to make a step forward in the performance of the car in the team" - Aston Martin team boss

The Aston Martin team boss stated that they should not lose sight of their goal for the season, which is to finish as the best of the rest and ahead of their midfield competitions.

He said that their goal was the enhance and improve the car's performance from the 2022 season, stating:

"For us, we must not lose [sight of] our goals. Our goal was to make a step forward in the performance of the car in the team, and this remains our objective. These dynamics that you can sometimes have like someone says. 'He's very good'. and then someone [else] says. 'He's good and he's very good'. like when the word goes around the children at school. We need to keep our feet on the ground. Our expectations are always high and at this time of the year, everybody wants to do well. We are realists.

He added:

"It's very difficult on such a test to make a proper judgment. Last year we were P4, P4, P10 over the three days [and] we seem very similar now, and in the race weekend, we were out in Q1. Just to tell you how much a test like that can give you an indication of where you are."

It would be fascinating to see the first race come next week where Aston Martin ends up after qualifying.