"There is a chance"- Aston Martin chief makes 'realistic' claim about team's championship position
Aston Martin boss Mike Krack has said a P6 finish in the championship this season does not seem realistic.
Aston Martin have shown progress since the summer break. They have moved up from ninth to seventh in the championship and are just seven points behind sixth-placed Alfa Romeo.
Reflecting on the last few races where his team scored well and the prospects of going P6, Knack told motorsport.com that Aston Martin do not have a quick car. He added:
"Confidence is not everything; you also have to have a quick car. Because with confidence alone, we don't do much. We know where we are with our car; we have made some steps over the year. But still, in a regular race, we will struggle to finish sixth. We need to stay realistic. There's four more to go. If we manage to score or to continue scoring, there's a chance that we can still grab a position."
Moments like this.
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He added:
"The situation can also turn quickly. If one of the rival teams is scoring significantly, then also we could lose a position. It's four races; it's still long, and we need to really keep our game up. But certainly, I think in the 12 last races, we have scored 10 times. I think you can see that we are on a good progression."
Talking about the decision by Sebastian Vettel to pit for inters on the first lap of the red flag restart at the Japanese GP last weekend, Knack said that it was something that was already discussed internally. He said:
"We had spoken about it; we had time to discuss this, how are we going to approach it. And then we decided that together. Ultimately, the driver had to make the final call, because we don't see all the track conditions."
Knack added:
"From that point of view, he had his final call. We were ready. And I think this was key, but also key was that we could pass Latifi on the pitstop because, without that, we would not have ended in front of Fernando. Basically, these two decisions were key."
The retiring Vettel held off Fernando Alonso to finish seventh.
None of the upcoming tracks are bad for Aston Martin - Team boss
Aston Martin (45) trail Alfa Romeo, but with Sebastian Vettel and Lance Stroll scoring well recently, Krack is confident of good results in the last four races. Talking about the team's prospects in the upcoming races, the Aston Martin boss exuded confidence, saying:
Giving it his all.
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"The next races are all very similar, in terms of characteristics. They are not the kind of Baku, Singapore and Monaco track. So it will be more difficult for us than the ones I mentioned. We could have rain in Sao Paulo; we have a sprint in Sao Paulo as well. So there are still some opportunities. There is no track now that is upcoming where we think it would be really bad for us. So let's see."
It has been an impressive recovery from Aston Martin in the second half of the season.