“Not Enough of a Politician”: F1 Team Principal Left Wide-Eyed Over Scandalous BTS in the Paddock

Formula 1 teams put as much effort away from the track to excel as they do on it. Not all that effort goes into making their cars better and faster. Some of it goes into swinging the media’s mood their way and the politics to influence the FIA or other bodies’ decisions. That is something that caught Aston Martin team boss Mike Krack by surprise. The reality check came in the midst of the discussion over budget cap.

Before taking up the role of the team principal at Aston Martin, the Luxembourger managed BMW’s motorsport program. He replaced Otmar Szafnauer, who spent more than a decade with the team. Mike had previously worked with Sebastian Vettel when he drove for BMW, and the German welcomed his presence at Aston Martin.

Krack recently appeared for an interview with Sport1, as quoted by Speedweek.com where he talked about the politics in F1. He recalled the series of events that took place when all team bosses were pondering over the budget cap. He said, “In Spielberg, the team bosses agreed that the previously defined minimum budget should be reduced by four million euros due to increased costs due to the pandemic and the Ukraine war is increased. Unanimously mind you.” [Translated using Google]

“And yet a team boss ran to the media immediately afterwards and lamented that the increase wasn’t high enough.”

Mike admitted this was the part of the job that he was not very good at. “I’d rather talk about the sport instead. The fans are interested in lap times, less in budgets or underbodies that are too flexible,” he added. “But maybe I’m not enough of a politician. One thing is certain: you shouldn’t overestimate all of this and always have to keep calm.”

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Team owner Lawrence Stroll, in a 2021 interview, talked about the budget cap reducing the gulf between his team and the ones at the top. However, in reality, 2022 turned out to be a rather disappointing season for them.

When Mike Krack came to defend Lawrence Stroll

Mike did not have the best of starts to his career at the Silverstone-based team. They drew on points with Alfa Romeo with 55 points and finished 7th in the championship. The newly appointed team boss believed that the perception media had created of his team owner was far from reality.

In a July 2022 interview with Sport1, he revealed, “He is often wronged. He gives us a free hand and doesn’t interfere every 10 seconds. The fact he wants an update on the team once a week is completely legitimate in my eyes.” [Translated using Google]

When asked about the best way to deal with Stroll, Mike told, “To be honest with him. Always describe exactly how and why the situation is the way it is. Without beating around problems.”

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Aston Martin currently has a state-of-the-art facility under construction at Silverstone. The factory will have an in-house wind tunnel, and that is proof of their commitment to excel in F1.