Aston Martin have announced the appointment of Mike Krack (no typo here!) as team principal to head (no pun here either)the Aston Martin F1 division in 2022. He will replace outgoing team principal Otmar Szafnauer, who left the team just over a week ago.
Mr. Krack formerly worked at BMW’s motorsport division, and has prior experience working with Sebastian Vettel when the German was test and reserve driver for BMW Sauber F1 team in 2006-07. He had the following to say regarding his appointment:
“It is a thrill and an honour to have been appointed to the position of Team Principal of Aston Martin Cognizant Formula One™ Team, and I am very grateful to Lawrence Stroll and Martin Whitmarsh for giving me such a fantastic opportunity.
“Aston Martin is one of the greatest automotive brands in the world, and to have been asked to play a leading role in delivering the on-track Formula One success that such an illustrious name so richly deserves is a challenge that I plan to embrace with energy and enthusiasm.
“I have been working in motorsport for over 20 years, and worked in Formula One with Sebastian Vettel in 2006 and 2007 when I was a BMW-Sauber engineer and he was the team’s test driver.
“I have huge respect for his speed and ability, and it will be fantastic to be reunited with him. Lance Stroll is a seriously fast and talented driver, too, with 100 Grands Prix starts to his name, and I am very much looking forward to working closely with him.
“Team Silverstone has always impressed me. It is full of talented people and real racers. That racer’s culture and values are what is required to succeed in motorsport – I know that and my new colleagues at Aston Martin Cognizant Formula One™ Team know it, too. We will work incredibly hard. We want to win. Together, we will.”
-Mike Krack, Aston Martin F1 Team Principal
Owner Lawrence Stroll, and previously-appointed Group Chief Executive Officer Martin Whitmarsh who joined the team back in September had this to say regarding Krack’s appointment:
“Mike Krack is exactly the right kind of dynamic and modern Team Principal who, working with our other senior leaders under Lawrence’s [Stroll] and my overall direction, as well as with our ever-growing staff of skilled and committed employees, will deliver the Formula One World Championship success that we at Aston Martin Cognizant Formula One™ Team are so determined to achieve.
“Having worked in very senior motorsport positions at both BMW and Porsche, backed by an engineering background in Formula One with Sauber, Mike possesses a blend of experience and expertise that makes him the ideal choice for us.
“He works well with drivers, having prioritised that aspect of his role at BMW in recent years, and also with engineers, since he speaks their language.”
–Martin Whitmarsh, Group Chief Executive Officer, Aston Martin F1
“Winning in Formula One is all about bringing together the best efforts of all the principal players – drivers, engineers, mechanics, everyone – and Mike is perfectly placed to do just that.
“We are hiring brilliant new people every week. Our new factory build is coming along very well. We have a fantastic roster of superb sponsor-partners.
“We are about to embark on year two of our five-year plan, the objective of which is to win Formula One World Championships.
“All the ingredients we require are coming together. Mike will play a central and leading role, reporting to Martin Whitmarsh and leading our technical and operational functions, our collective aim being to fulfil those lofty ambitions. We are on our way.”
–Lawrence Stroll, Chairman, Aston Martin Lagonda and Aston Martin F1
With this, the only team left to confirm their team principal is Alpine, who just yesterday announced the departure of team principal Marcin Budkowski. What will be interesting to see is how well he manages to head the team to glory, but something to note will also be how the commentators avoid the inevitable jokes when they need to talk to him during a race (imagine the number of memes)- because they don’t want him to be the butt of all jokes now, would they? Right? Once again, I’ll show myself out…
