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For much of the early 2024 season, Aston Martin harbored ambitions of fighting at the sharp end of the grid. But as the campaign unfolded, their competitive edge gradually dulled, and by the latter half of the year, they found themselves slipping into the midfield battle. Former team principal Mike Krack pinpointed the Imola Grand Prix as the moment when their season began to unravel.
Aston Martin introduced an extensive upgrade package at Imola with high expectations, but the updates failed to deliver the anticipated performance gains. While key rivals such as McLaren and Mercedes made significant strides with their respective updates at Miami and Imola, Aston Martin’s package proved ineffective. Instead of propelling them forward, it left them vulnerable, compressing the gap between them and the chasing midfield pack.
The Silverstone-based squad spent the following races trying to extract performance from their revised car, losing valuable development time in the process. By the time the season reached its final double-header in Budapest, Aston Martin’s struggles were laid bare. The Hungarian GP further exposed the team’s deficit. As a technical circuit that demands a well-balanced car, it highlighted their performance shortcomings. Midfield teams outqualified them with ease, and once they were behind, recovering positions in the race became a near-impossible task.
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Aston Martin’s struggles in the latter half of the 2024 season ultimately reshaped their ambitions. What started as a promising campaign ended in frustration, with Imola serving as the defining moment when the tide turned against them. Now, with lessons learned, the team will be looking to ensure that history doesn’t repeat itself in 2025.
Asked by Sportskeeda to pinpoint the part of the 2024 season where Aston Martin fell away from the front runners, Krack replied:
"I think it was maybe we started to lose a little bit (performance) from Miami onwards when others brought upgrades. We had a big upgrade plan for Imola, which is the race after, where we were hopeful that we can at least keep up with them or come closer. And we had a situation where McLaren and Mercedes, for example, the Miami upgrades worked really well, and our Imola upgrade did not work. And there you had really the separation. From this point, we became a midfield field team and midfield came closer to us and the team leaders went. So you can really say you know in this in this Miami Imola phase.”
He continued:
“And then to be honest and also I think we lost a little bit of orientation going you know from Imola to Monaco to Barcelona you know this kind of in the middle of the season. Because we had so many so much hope in what we had brought and it didn't work you know. So you have to reorientate yes when the races come. You know you have like every week you have a race and before you can react you know there is four or five races already gone. You know so I think until Budapest we were really in a big in a difficult position yeah and I think from that moment onwards it went a little bit better. But still not the steps that we are with that we have to make.”
Krack further reflected on the challenges his side faced last season.
Mike Krack reflects on "very intense" 2024 season with Aston Martin
Since joining Aston Martin in 2022, Mike Krack’s tenure with the team has been nothing short of intense. However, the 2024 season proved to be his most challenging yet. Now stepping into the role of Chief Trackside Officer, Krack acknowledged that the team entered the season with high expectations following a strong 2023 campaign. But when performance gains failed to materialize as anticipated, Aston Martin found themselves battling to secure fifth place in the Constructors’ Championship.
In 2023, the Silverstone-based squad had been a consistent podium contender for much of the season, holding third place in the standings for a significant stretch. With eight podium finishes to their name, they appeared to be on an upward trajectory. However, a late-season resurgence from rivals Mercedes and McLaren saw Aston Martin slip to fifth by the year’s end. Despite the setback, it was still a notable improvement from their seventh-place finish in 2022.
The 2024 season, however, did not unfold as hoped. While the team aspired to build on the previous year's momentum, their progress stalled. With the competition intensifying, Aston Martin struggled to meet the lofty expectations they had set for themselves. As they look ahead to 2025, the lessons learned from this turbulent season will be crucial in shaping their path forward.
Asked by Sportskeeda to describe his intense journey with Aston Martin as a team principal, Krack said:
“The Aston Martin journey has been very intense over the last three years. We had a difficult start when I started, but we improved quite a lot. But we have also had one of the most difficult seasons or the most difficult season this year. So that is something where you know when you are below, behind your expectations when the pressure is high, you know the intensity Intensities how you’re trying to find solutions, you know, everybody becomes nervous emotions are kicking in it's much more difficult. Then if you have overexcited expectations like it was in 2023 at the beginning then it is easy for everybody. So yeah, very different seasons and yeah quite, your question was how intense it was, it was very intense.”
Following the conclusion of the 2024 season, Aston Martin underwent a major leadership change, with Mike Krack stepping down as team principal and Andy Cowell taking over the reins. Cowell, formerly the head of Mercedes High-Performance Powertrains, brings a wealth of technical expertise and leadership experience to the Silverstone-based outfit. While Krack transitions into the role of Chief Trackside Officer for the 2025 season and beyond, his successor will be tasked with steering the team toward greater competitiveness.
Cowell’s credentials in Formula 1 are undeniable. During his tenure at Mercedes, he played a pivotal role in developing the hybrid V6 power unit that dominated the sport throughout the turbo-hybrid era. After leaving the German outfit at the end of 2020, he returned to F1 in 2024 as Group CEO at Aston Martin before stepping into the role of team principal.
With the upcoming engine regulation changes set for 2026, Cowell’s expertise will be instrumental in shaping Aston Martin’s power unit project in collaboration with Honda. As the Silverstone-based team aims to establish itself as a long-term frontrunner, his leadership could prove to be a defining factor in their push toward success.
