We're in the middle of a triple-header, with a lot of work to do, Felipe Drugovich in the car, and Fernando Alonso celebrating a remarkable milestone.
It's a rarified atmosphere at the Autódromo Hermanos Rodríguez, situated at 2,300m, towering above all other circuits – though that's a description that could equally be used to describe Fernando who is celebrating his 400th Grand Prix this weekend in Mexico. He's in a club of one. Unique.
Team Principal Mike Krack was one of the few in the paddock who was around for his debut and has a few things to say about Fernando's latest milestone, but it isn't all about Fernando this week or even Ai.lonso – more on that below. We've got Felipe in the car for FP1, Jessica Hawkins has been out to Charlotte to drive a NASCAR, and we're working on a programme to better understand the update we introduced last week in Austin.
There's plenty for Mike to talk about as we head towards the middle of our Americas triple-header.
This is Mike on...
Our latest update
"I had notionally planned to take a day off between Austin and Mexico, but after our performance at the Circuit of the Americas, I thought it best to stay in Austin, organise some meetings and discuss what we wanted to do going forwards. Our weekend in Austin was pretty tough.
"These things aren't necessarily black and white. What we saw from the update is that the AMR24 improved in some areas – we looked OK in some corners but in others we had not improved."
What happens next
"It is not easy for everyone when an update isn't an instant success, and particularly so for the people who've put in a lot of extra hours to get these parts ready and get them to the track. F1 is pretty tough in the way it shows up your shortcomings, but tough is just another way of saying honest. What is very encouraging is that everyone is very much together on this. That starts with the drivers, who handled themselves really well.
"With just the one practice session in Austin, we weren't able to compare the updates, but that's something we'll do this weekend in Mexico. It is tough for everyone when there's a triple-header, and with two Sprint weekends folded into that, but the drivers and the engineering team handled it all very pragmatically.
"I'm not unhappy with the approach. We committed to the update and we tried to optimise it, and since the race we've discussed what is the best way forwards for Mexico: what experiments we are going to do and who is going to test what. The plan, of course, has a few non-standard elements because we have Felipe in the car for FP1 and a Pirelli tyre test for FP2."
Expectations
"The expectation is that this is not going to be an easy weekend. There are a lot of low-speed corners here which are not our forte. On the other hand, we've put a lot of work into our cooling performance so we should be able to cope with the altitude better than before and not have to open the bodywork up quite so much.
"It's cooler this week than it was last week, which is a weather forecast that usually suits us, and sometimes when you're braced for the worst, you get to do something good. We do need to be realistic and accept it will be a success to score points, and that the most important thing for us is maximise what we have and understanding the direction we want to take going forwards.
"I always think that, in such situations, it is important to zoom out and look at the big picture. We are fifth in the championship and there's a good chance to remain there. The learning is what matters at this stage in our development. Though, of course, I'd like us to be doing better…
"…and we will. It will come."
Felipe driving in FP1
"It's great to have Felipe back in the car for FP1 for one of our mandatory rookie sessions. I have absolutely no worries about that because he's absolutely solid. With many young drivers, I'd be having a conversation before they jump in, telling them to take it easy, but with Felipe there's no need. He's a professional through and through. He will not do anything silly. He will be fast, he will be consistent, and he will tell us what the car does. He's a perfect test driver to have here in Mexico."
Fernando's 400th
"Someone slightly further along in their F1 career is Fernando, who is at his 400th race this weekend. The first driver to reach this monumental milestone. I'm probably one of the few people working in the paddock this weekend who was around when he started!
"You really have to look at this and think about his peers among the driving community. The people who started around about the same time as him are all retired. Some of them are still here, talking about F1, but he is still out there driving. This is incredibly tough. He has to do more training to maintain his fitness at same level as the younger drivers he's racing, and that takes a huge amount of effort.
"To get to where he is, you have to be super-talented, super-disciplined and have a ferocious desire to compete. The combination is incredibly rare. In fact, Fernando might be the only one – and he's just as hungry today as he was when he started more than two decades ago.
"He hasn't been with Aston Martin Aramco for all of his races, but we are in the privileged position of being the team that gets to organise the celebration. I think everyone he's worked with down the years, across the whole F1 ecosystem, should celebrate this moment because we're witnessing a milestone for a truly outstanding sportsperson."
Ai.lonso
"On the subject of Fernando, if you haven't used Ai.lonso yet, you should. The all-new AI-powered functionality helps make our website more accessible and further personalises your fan experience. You can ask Ai.lonso to read out selected articles in multiple languages in the voice of Fernando and I think it's a great idea. I really like innovations like this, and you should definitely give it a try."
Jessica and NASCAR
"Another thing I really like are the iconic colours of our partner Valvoline, and we teamed up with them to have Jessica out in Charlotte with Jeff Gordon, driving a NASCAR. Jessica had a very, very cool helmet that I took a picture of.
"As I've mentioned before, those Valvoline colours, the name, the history in motorsport, it takes me back to my childhood and it makes me smile. That livery, it's not green, but I really like it and as was the case with Aramco and our launch of Generation 3 last week, it's great to have partners who are with us on our journey and share our ambition to make a real impact both and off the track."
Making history at high altitudeMaking history at high altitude
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