New crew principal Mike Krake mentioned Aston Martin must put a “efficiency construction” in place to persuade four-times world champion Sebastian Vettel to remain past the top of the season.
Vettel, the 53-times race winner who joined the crew from Ferrari in 2021, had his contract expired on the finish of the yr and mentioned his future would rely upon whether or not the 2022 Aston Martin rival might put him again on profitable methods.
“Clearly a man like Sebastian, the four-time world champion, does not need to be fifteenth, twelfth or eighth,” Krak, the previous head of BMW motorsports who changed Otmar Szafnauer, informed reporters at his first media convention. “.
“Our job is to supply a efficiency automotive, or say, a efficiency chassis as a result of I believe Sebastian is a great man.
“He will not simply deal with this yr’s automotive or one thing else however he’ll focus extra on what’s taking place and whether or not he sees the potential,” he mentioned at an internet information briefing.
Krack labored with Vettel at BMW-Sauber, the place Vettel made his Method 1 racing debut in 2007.
Krak was additionally Vettel’s engineer when the German made his grand prix debut this weekend for the Swiss-based crew in observe on Friday on the 2006 Turkish Grand Prix.
Since then Vettel has gained 4 consecutive titles with Purple Bull from 2010 to 2013.
His victories put him behind Lewis Hamilton and Michael Schumacher.
Nonetheless, he has not gained for the reason that 2019 Singapore Grand Prix when he was nonetheless at Ferrari.
Aston Martin completed seventh out of the ten groups within the standings final yr, however the crew’s billionaire proprietor, Lawrence Stroll, has massive ambitions and laid out a five-year plan to reach the championship.
The 2022 season, which can see the most important overhaul of F1’s guidelines in a long time, is the second yr of that plan.
Crack acknowledged that such plans don’t at all times work.
However he cited Aston Martin’s agile administration construction, which incorporates former McLaren boss Martin Whitmarsh as CEO on the high, as energy.
He mentioned the crew needed to keep away from falling into an “institutional” means of working.
“The way in which we have divided duties proper now, we’re quick, versatile and we are able to reply sooner than others,” he mentioned.
“At this level we’ve got every thing we’d like.”
