In his post-2026 F1 Japanese GP print media session, Aston Martin Chief Trackside Officer Mike Krack relayed how the team takes small steps towards improvement.
Aston Martin had the toughest start to the 2026 F1 season among all teams. The Silverstone-based outfit barely participated in the Barcelona Shakedown and subsequent F1 pre-season testing in Bahrain. Reliability concerns forced drivers Fernando Alonso and Lance Stroll to retire from the opening rounds in Australia and China.
Given Aston Martin’s challenges, Fernando Alonso finishing the 2026 F1 Japanese GP is a notable achievement. While finishing a race is not cause for celebration, according to Krack, it shows that Aston Martin has made progress since the challenging start of the 2026 F1 season.
After Aston Martin hit a “modest objective” by completing the Japanese GP, Krack reckons the team has more steps to take as it continues its improvement journey.
Finishing the 2026 F1 Japanese GP is a step, with many more to come
“Well, the mood in the team is not celebration, that is clear.
“But, as you say, when you look back, in Melbourne we did not last 26 laps. In Shanghai, we managed to do the sessions. But we had, in between sessions, a lot of work to be able to do all the sessions. This was not the case here, so the cars could be prepared normally between the sessions.
“Our objective, it is a modest objective, clearly, it was to finish the race with both cars. We managed with one, so it’s one small step on the list with many, many, many small steps to be done.
“But as a team, you cannot destroy yourself. We are in a difficult situation. We need to take the positives.
“From the last three months, we went to Barcelona, I think, in January, and since then we have not done many laps. We have now managed to finish races, which in Formula 1 should be the norm. It should not be something that you have to celebrate.
“But we have to acknowledge that this is the situation we are in, and we have to accept it and work ourselves out of it, I think.”
F1 break will provide Aston Martin with the opportunity to take the next steps in its improvement journey
Following the 2026 F1 Japanese GP, which saw Aston Martin driver Fernando Alonso finish in P18, Krack praised the trackside staff and the factory teams in Sakura and Silverstone for their relentless work. As Aston Martin increased the reliability of the AMR, improving the performance will now be the main objective.
The extended F1 break between the Japanese GP and the Miami GP will provide Aston Martin with the opportunity to initiate the first steps in their journey to improve their package, reckons Krack.
“Credit to everyone, trackside, Sakura, and also Silverstone, for how we persisted in getting these initial steps done.
“But, unfortunately, as soon as you fix your reliability issues, everybody is just focusing on performance. Looking at that, we have seen that we have some major steps to take, lots more steps that we have now done with reliability, but there are major steps to take.
“We have to use the break now to the first step, but there is a big mountain to climb. So, to come back to your initial question, to mood in the camp, nobody is celebrating.
“But I think, for the modest target that we have set ourselves, we have achieved it.”
