Aston Martin grateful that Alonso and Stroll “didn’t let us down”

Aston Martin team principal Mike Craik has expressed his gratitude towards his drivers, who have mostly avoided criticizing his car’s poor performance in the media.

2024 was a fairly poor season for the Silverstone-based team after a 2023 campaign in which Fernando Alonso was a regular podium contender.

Aston Martin’s best result last year was Alonso’s fifth-place finish in Saudi Arabia. The Spaniard’s 70 points and team-mate Lance Stroll’s 24 points were enough to secure fifth place in the Constructors’ Championship – although a world away from fourth-placed Mercedes’ total of 468 points.

Revealing his highlights of the year, Krack said he is thrilled that his drivers have remained somewhat positive despite their struggles.

“The main thing for me is the drivers and how they have coped with it, how they have connected to the team,” Krack told Autosport in an interview at the end of the season.

“It will be very easy for them to go to the media and defame us, because it is the hardest for them. Every week, they drive it and they can’t change the car. They have to run it and have all the microphones in front of them. And he has always been associated with the team. So, for me, that’s really a big attraction.

Stroll suggested in June that “it’s amazing to see” how far the team has come since the Racing Point era and that he is “definitely here for the future”.

Alonso in particular has a history of berating his team for poor performances, particularly with McLaren during their ill-fated partnership with Honda over the past decade.

Speaking in September last year, the two-time champion said: “As a team, we can accept not being in the battle for the top four – they are top teams and they are well ahead of us. But now Williams is behind , To be behind Haas, (RB), I think we need to raise the level a little bit.

However, the two-time world champion is also proving to be realistic.

“There are not many miracles in Formula 1 – you need to be patient,” he explained. As a result, he is taking solace in the promise of better days to come with the 2026 tech regulatory overhaul.