‘It’s everything’ – Aston Martin boss gives damning verdict on F1 struggles

Mike Krack has conceded Aston Martin must improve "everything" after a rotten start to the new Formula 1 era. 

Aston Martin has been plagued by a lack of pace and severe reliability issues across the opening races of the 2026 campaign, with both the team and power unit supplier Honda being forced to repeatedly face up to their struggles.

Such were Aston Martin's problems in Spain, where both Fernando Alonso and Lance Stroll retired by lap 37, that chief trackside engineer Krack felt compelled to issue an apology to fans, with Alonso branding the team's effort the worst engine and car that he has experienced in the championship.

“I think it's everything," conceded Krack. "Yeah, I think we need to improve. 

"If it was only one thing, it would be quite easy. The problem where Lance thought he had a problem, that is a clear drivability issue, so I don't think they are solved. 

"I think you are correct in saying this track probably exposes them less. But then, the track character cannot be more different here than to Monaco. 

"You have a lot of high-speed corners, a lot of medium-speed corners, very, very few low speeds, and in Monaco, it's the opposite. Then in Monaco you struggle to make the tyres work, while here, you try to cool the tyres, so it's really very, very different. But the fact that we are behind on both circuits shows you that I think it's all areas that we have to, have to work on.”

With no upgrade expected until around the Belgian Grand Prix, just before the summer shutdown, Aston Martin's pain is set to continue. 

Asked if anything new had been learned from the Barcelona weekend, which saw Aston Martin complete the back row of the grid nearly four seconds off the Q1 pace - Krack added: “You always learn new things. 

"As crazy as it might sound, when you are between three and four seconds off, you think you are driving in a different category, but still you learn a lot.

"Barcelona is very, very difficult for energy. You have seen the FIA was tweaking the energy a couple of times before the event, so it is a difficult circuit for energy, and I think we learned a great deal about how we have to adjust our processes to get the maximum out of it. 

"So there are some small positives, you know, it is difficult to see them. The single pit stop that we did was very good in my opinion, and we have to work with this and try to improve in all other areas.”