“Our motto for Spielberg: Attack”: Aston Martin ready to witness Red Bull’s 'true strength' in Austria

Heading into the Austrian GP, Aston Martin team principal Mike Krack has set his sights on front runners Red Bull. The British team is hoping to beat its competitors in their backyard as F1 returns to Spielberg this weekend.

Aston Martin introduced a major upgrade package in Canada, with Fernando Alonso driving the overhauled AMR23 to a P2 finish. The Spaniard finished nine seconds behind race winner Max Verstappen, but couldn't show his true pace as the team exercised caution due to an issue.

Mike Krack believes that the car will improve for the upcoming race in Austria. The 2.683 miles (4.318 km) Red Bull Ring Circuit consists of many high-speed corners, where Max Verstappen has previously dominated. Outlining the team's expectations for the Austrian weekend, Krack boldly claimed that their motto was to "attack".

"The latest evolutions seem to work. Now circuits with high-speed corners are coming and I think our car will improve. We are looking forward to Austria, because that is where we will see the true strength of Red Bull. Our motto for Spielberg: Attack," he said to Sky Germany.

Max Verstappen has four wins at the Red Bull Ring, but was beaten by Charles Leclerc last year. The Ferrari driver overtook Verstappen multiple times during the race to snatch the lead and win in his competitor's backyard.

Aston Martin will be hoping to pull off a similar feat this weekend with Fernando Alonso at the helm of the upgraded AMR23. The team is now switching its focus from defending against Mercedes and Ferrari to attacking the leaders.

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F1 pundit claims Aston Martin team owner will be "cracking the whip" on Lance Stroll

Lance Stroll and his father Lawrence Stroll

Fernando Alonso has continued his weekly visits to the podium, while his teammate Lance Stroll is nowhere to be seen at the top end of the grid. Alonso has stood on the podium six times in his first eight races for the team, while Stroll has failed to impress.

F1 pundit Peter Windsor recently made a comparison between the Aston Martin teammates as he said about team owner and Lance's father, Lawrence Stroll's situation:

"As I keep saying, I can’t imagine Lawrence Stroll’s that happy with everything, because his main thing about being in Formula 1 with Lance is that Lance is good enough to win grands prix and the World Championship and he’s going to create a team to prove that, and he’s going to have very good drivers in the other car as sort of benchmarks for Lance."

"Certainly, Lawrence will be cracking the whip – for sure. He’ll be saying: ‘I want to see my son up there, he’s as good as Fernando’."

Lance has to improve his performances to contribute to Aston Martin's battle for second place in the constructors' standings.