Although his squad has made some encouraging strides this season, Aston Martin owner Lawrence Stroll, a Canadian businessman known for his relentless ambition, wants more.
The current Formula 1 season has started off well for Aston Martin, and everyone there is happy with it, but owner Lawrence Stroll is still not totally satisfied.
In the first three races of 2023, Fernando Alonso has come in third place as fellow teammate Lance Stroll has performed well in two of them, scoring solid points in both of them. However, if it weren’t for an issue with his energy recovery system, he probably would have finished in the top 10 three times.
Last year, this squad regularly struggled to score any points but now Aston Martin is battling Mercedes and Ferrari to be the closest challengers to the Red Bull frontrunners. Stroll’s optimistic expectations of future F1 success don’t seem so far off anymore.
Undoubtedly, Aston Martin team principal Mike Krack is ecstatic about the improved performance. However, he is quite conscious of the fact that there is still a lot of work to be done, as owner Stroll won’t be content until the team records regular race victories.
“The mission is very clear,” Krack said at the Australian Grand Prix last weekend. “Stroll has not been having any delay in telling us, ‘When are we going to win the next one?’
“Obviously, he is happy we have made a step, but this is not enough for his ambitions.
“The good thing is with Lawrence is you know where you stand he wants more, and we will have to deliver more.”
However, the task of defeating these Red Bulls is enormous, because anybody as ambitious as Stroll is aware of their unbeatable performance.
Together, Max Verstappen and Sergio Perez have won all three races, and their RB19 race cars perform significantly better than those of their rivals. Yet Krack has thoroughly examined his own team to be sure that they can benefit if the gap closes.
“Three circuits with three characteristics,” Krack added. “To be competitive on all three, we are confident we can be on other circuits as well.”
“But you know the range of circuits is now very different – you have Baku with huge straights and then you have Monaco with no straights.
“These kinds of things will always shift the field a little bit and this can happen when you have such small margins, it can happen.
“It’s the situation we are in and I’ve said it before, we have to be at maximum at all times, at 100% to get [the most] out of it.”
