The home races are coming thick and fast. Team Principal Mike Krack has plenty to say about a good weekend in Canada, the power of green in Spain and the unifying appeal of sport.
A run of five races in six weeks takes F1 fans into their happy place – but pushes teams to the limit. Coming off the back of a strong result in Canada, we're looking to maintain the momentum and continue to feed off the energy of our passionate fans over the final sequence of races before the summer shutdown.
Team Principal Mike Krack has some thoughts on this, the huge array of events we have on for Fernando's home race, our junior drivers Jak Crawford and Tina Hausmann taking to track this weekend, and a timely diversion into the world of football.
This is Mike on...
The power of sport
"It's an incredible time of year for sport, and it's been impossible to ignore the football at the moment – though of course, being a football fan, I wouldn't want to ignore it. Last Friday, I was on the plane, heading home to Munich, with a lot of Scotland fans, which was an incredible experience. The city at the moment is basically shut down for the Euros.
"There's huge excitement in Germany and it's fantastic to see. The next time I'm home, I'll try to get to the fan forum with my kids. At home we have a results pool, predicting the scores each day. It's pretty high stakes: winner gets to choose where we go out to eat!
"It's fantastic to see all the fans in the city, congregating from different countries to enjoy the matches. Of course, there are parallels with F1. As I've said in previous columns, a shared affinity with sport is what brings people together. We go to different countries, meet fans of different teams. You meet fans cheering on Lance, or Lando, or Carlos but brought together by a love of the sport. I'm a great advocate for this – in fact, I think I enjoy sport primarily for this reason. Sure, you cheer for one team or one individual, but you enjoy the totality of the event too."
A good weekend in Canada
"In Montréal, I think we overperformed a bit. We had great calls from the strategy team, both in Qualifying and the race, maximising everything. I'm tempted to say over-maximising. As a team, I think we deserved the points – but from a performance point of view, we were not sixth and seventh. For me, over-delivering is an extremely positive outcome. We worked for it and we will take it.
"Before the weekend, looking at the weather, the track, the new surface, we suspected Circuit Gilles Villeneuve might be good for us if we stuck to the basics, made good calls and, essentially, kept it simple. If I'd been offered 14 points on Thursday, before we'd turned a wheel, I would have taken them happily. It was a good weekend for us, made even more special because it was Lawrence and Lance's home race.
"Being an engineer, there's a tendency to just focus on where improvements can be made – but on reflection, when I got back to Europe, I thought it was an extraordinary result: our highest points haul of the season with a car that's not as competitive compared to the front runners as we'd like. I think it demonstrates how strong we are as a team."
The high-speed triple
"We're now into the really busy part of the season: five races in six weeks. It's going to be tough for everybody, but we'll get into a rhythm. It's important to maximise our performance because a lot of the season can slip by in a very short period of time.
"This triple-header will be a challenge because Austria, Silverstone and Barcelona are all high-speed tracks that perhaps won't play to the strengths of the AMR24. We're hard at work improving the car and will keep bringing small updates to continue to extract more speed and provide Lance and Fernando with a more consistent car."
Fernando
"We've seen plenty of green in recent weeks but I'm looking forward to seeing even more of it in Spain for Fernando and Pedro's home race. This is a huge event for us, with a lot of energy. Last year we had a green grandstand, though this year I suspect they'll all be green… or perhaps a mix of green and red – but we'll certainly have our share, because this is Fernando country.
"He's a fantastic ambassador – not only for Aston Martin, but for the whole sport of F1. It is a privilege to have such an elite sportsman within our ranks. That we've secured his presence for more years is something of which we should be proud. It says he believes in our project and has committed to us for the future. It does come with its own kind of pressure though: we have to deliver, there isn't an option to sit back, you have to work hard."
Bringing F1 to the streets of Barcelona
"We've been very busy this week celebrating Fernando fandom by bringing local fans closer to the sport, our team and their hero through many exciting events in and around Barcelona. The Fernando mural is amazing, and our downtown garage setup in the Fan Village, complete with the show car immerses fans in the world of F1 without even needing a ticket to the Grand Prix.
"Not everyone gets to see the garage at the track – though judging by the number of people who do the pitlane walk, there's plenty that do! The pitlane walk is always very popular at the Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya and the area in front of our garage was absolutely buzzing, there were so many excited fans."
"Fernando has also been out with Pedro and Jessica at his museum and karting circuit in Oviedo, hosting a series of STEM-focused workshops and karting masterclasses, together with our title partner Aramco, for local students. I was a little bit jealous because I definitely want to go there and do a few laps, but the timing didn't allow for it. Hopefully, I'll get the chance next year, if not sooner!"
Jak and Tina
"The Spanish Grand Prix weekend is a busy one on track because we have the junior categories on show, which means we'll see Jak in Formula 2, after his debut F1 test with the team, and Tina in action with F1 Academy.
"Honestly, I'm eager for them to have a good weekend because, so far, they haven't had a lot of luck with incidents, mechanical failures and so on. I'm really hoping they're both through that challenging period. They're both very talented and the results will come."
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