"In a normal dry race, it would have been very, very difficult" - Aston Martin boss does not think that their car has 'more pace' than earlier despite double points finish at F1 Imola GP

Aston Martin team principal Mike Krack believes the AMR22 didn’t have more pace at the Imola GP compared to previous races, despite the double points finish. Without mixed conditions at Imola, Krack believes Aston Martin would have found themselves less competitive than they were.

Speaking to Motorsport Network, he said:

“I don’t think that there is more pace in the car than previously. If you look carefully into the sprint, we were having to defend hard. There was no chance we were going to finish in the top 10 yesterday. Mixed conditions or difficult conditions is where we thought we need to use our chances as best as we can. And I think in a normal dry race, it would have been very, very difficult for us.”

Krack believes the team did a very good job under tricky conditions throughout the weekend to get solid results rather than finding more pace from the car. He said:

“We’re happy, obviously, because we managed in difficult conditions on Friday and today to bring the car back in a better shape than it is by pace. The drivers and the team did a very good job there, in timing the stops right, in putting into action what we have learned yesterday from dry running.”

Aston Martin scored points for the first time this season at Imola when both Sebastian Vettel and Lance Stroll finished within the top 10. They were the only team to score a double points finish other than Red Bull.

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Learnings from Sprint race behind Aston Martin’s Imola GP result

Mike Krack has revealed that the tire knowledge the team gained during the Imola Sprint race on Saturday came in handy while exploiting opportunities thrown up by changeable conditions during Sunday’s main event. Speaking to the Motorsport Network, Krack said:

“I think we had a track that was probably suiting us a little bit, and the conditions were helping. And I think we learned quite a lot from the sprint with the soft tyres that we could apply. It was a great team effort today. And it was nice that we tried to make it happen like that, and then it does happen. It doesn’t work, always to be honest.”

With their solid points haul at Imola, Aston Martin jumped from the bottom of the grid to overtake Williams in the constructors’ table. Heading into Miami, the team will be hoping to keep their momentum going.