Aston Martin F1 boss apologises after “difficult” Barcelona showing

Mike Krack has made a public apology to fans at the Barcelona-Catalunya Grand Prix for the team’s below-par Formula 1 showing in Spain.

Aston Martin has long accepted that the first half of the 2026 season will be a slog, with the team holding off on bringing upgrades to the track until the a time loosely described as being around that of the Belgian Grand Prix in mid-July.

When the upgrades do finally arrive, they are expected to come on both the chassis and power unit side, with power unit supplier Honda granted the most engine upgrade tokens of any manufacturer.

Despite overcoming severe vibrations that left drivers Lance Stroll and Fernando Alonso with serious concerns for their health, Aston Martin has continued to suffer with reliability woes as well as a lack of pace, with the green cars lining up on the back row of the grid in Spain having set times over three seconds off the Q1 pace.

Things were no better in the race, with both drivers retiring – Stroll on lap five, and Alonso on lap 37 of what could prove to be his final grand prix outing in Barcelona, with the venue not featuring on the calendar again until 2028.

“A disappointing weekend, disappointing weeks, difficult weeks,” Krack told media including Crash.net.

“I think we expected a difficult weekend, but then having poor performance and then not finishing or having two DNFs does not make it easy.

“In the first place, I feel sorry for all the fans in green shirts in the grandstands in the paddock. There were many.

“When we drove in and out [of the circuit], it was so nice to see all these people with the green shirts, and we could not give them anything to cheer about, which is a shame because we started from the pit lane and then we could not finish the race in a decent result.

“So in the first place, I'm really sorry for all the fans that have bought expensive tickets to see, to see their heroes, and we could not give them the pathway to perform.”

Aston Martin is in action across Tuesday and Wednesday in Barcelona, with reserve driver Jak Crawford taking part in a Pirelli tyre test. Ferrari and Cadillac are also taking part.