Mike Krack has revealed how Aston Martin managed to save Fernando Alonso from “tearing us apart” after a difficult 2023 F1 race in Mexico.
Alonso, who recently signed a new multi-year contract with the team until at least the end of F1 2026, has established himself as a key player at Aston Martin since joining the team last year.
The two-time world champion reached the podium in six of his first eight races with the team, but Aston Martin gradually faded throughout the 2023 F1 season after falling in the progression race.
Alonso’s season reached its lowest point in Mexico, where he retired after a dismal race at the back of the pack.
Crazy rumours on social media after the race claimed that Alonso was about to announce his retirement, frustrated by the team’s mid-season decline.
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But after promising “consequences” about the origin of those retirement rumours, the veteran returned to Brazil seven days later to claim his final podium of the 2023 F1 season.
Alonso then expressed his pride in the way Aston Martin had behaved after the sadness in Mexico, commenting: “We needed a smart result.
“Even though it wasn’t a podium, I think you needed five sensible people within the team.
“I’m satisfied for everyone at Aston because I think the determination, the focus and the investigation of our disorders in recent occasions are very deep and all very united, which is not normal.
“When things are going well, you rarely see [in] groups that anyone blames each other. I think in that sense, it was great to see from the outside how close we were.
Explaining that Alonso has become a team player and rarely criticises his own colleagues since joining Aston Martin, Krack explained that his taste for control has created a culture of sincere and honest acceptance within the team.
And he cited the Mexico race as an occasion when Aston Martin pulled Alonso out of the abyss.
He told German newspaper Auto Motor und Sport: “One of my top life responsibilities is to keep the balls in the air so that all the personalities in the team harmonize with each other. Fernando is a clever example.
“My technique is pretty simple. I deal openly, honestly and transparently with everyone.
“To create an intelligent foundation of trust, you have to be fair to each other.
“If we take last year’s race in Mexico as an example, we gave Fernando a car that is probably the slowest on the grid.
“It would have been easy for him to publicly express his frustration in the media, but we controlled to prevent him from tearing us apart.
“It’s about how good a player he is as a team. “
Alonso and Aston Martin have battled for success at the same heights so far in F1 2024, with fifth place in Saudi Arabia as a result in the first six races of the new season.
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