Aston Martin is firmly aware that it’s “not at the level” of other Formula 1 teams after a very disappointing start to pre-season testing, says Mike Krack.
This year has introduced widespread regulation changes meaning much of the 2026 pecking order is unknown, but one thing which is clear is Aston Martin being comfortably behind.
The Silverstone outfit is just enduring one problem after another, beginning with its wind-tunnel programme for the 2026 car starting four months late. That subsequently had a knock-on effect and Aston Martin didn’t hit the track until day four of this year’s first collective shakedown in Barcelona.
It then got worse in Bahrain testing this week: Lance Stroll completed just 36 laps on day one due to a power unit issue, before missing much of day three’s running following a mechanical problem.
Day two was better for Fernando Alonso with 98 tours, but the two-time F1 champion set the second slowest time on the same day that Stroll claimed “we’re four seconds off”.
Although it’s hard to know if that’s precisely correct considering the usual caveats of testing, chief trackside officer Krack confirmed those sentiments are shared amongst the team. “The main thing that we learned this week is that we have a lot of work to do,” said Krack, who was Aston’s team principal from 2022 to 2024.
Mike Krack, Aston Martin Racing
Photo by: Zak Mauger / LAT Images via Getty Images
“We have a new car, a new package, a new partner – or new partners – and we need to integrate everything. So there is a lot of work that is ahead of us and we had to learn this week that we are not at the level as others. But, I think the package has potential and we need to work hard to unleash it.”
This is especially disappointing for Aston given it had huge expectations coming into the new era; George Russell reckoned the Silverstone outfit was capable of challenging the ‘big four’ in McLaren, Mercedes, Red Bull and Ferrari.
That’s because it had F1 legend Adrian Newey, who is now team principal, design the 2026 car, plus became a Honda works’ squad and has enjoyed huge investment from billionaire owner Lawrence Stroll.
But having Newey doesn’t guarantee success, and team ambassador Pedro de la Rosa confirmed that problems lay all over the AMR26.
“We are clearly behind,” said the ex-F1 driver. “As Lance said, we are four, three or five [seconds off]. I mean, it’s not what is most important really now.
“The thing is we have to unlock performance. Yes, everyone is in the same boat, but we are clearly behind, and when you are losing or you are missing that amount of time, it’s clearly the overall package – we cannot say it’s this or the other.
Pedro de la Rosa, Aston Martin F1 Team
Photo by: Zak Mauger / Motorsport Images
“There’s a lot of areas [which] we have already identified clearly, and we are working in Silverstone to address them.”
That means patience is required for Aston to turn its situation around, but with all the tools the team has on paper, de la Rosa is still confident it can become successful.
“It won’t be an overnight fix,” he said. “It’s not a five-minute job. It’s obviously a lot of work involved, a lot of learning, a lot of optimising. But we have the confidence that we have the team, we have the resources, we have everything in place.
“So, yes, we are not where we want to be, but we have the people and this is the most important thing. We are much better prepared than last year or the year before when I arrived to the team to actually pull it around, shape the difference.”
Additional reporting by Filip Cleeren
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