Aston Martin’s Mike Krack: “Both our drivers handled an extremely tricky task superbly”

Mike Krack, the Team Principal of Aston Martin Aramco Cognizant Formula 1 Team, has heaped the praise on both of his drivers after both Lance Stroll and Sebastian Vettel were able to work their way through the tricky conditions of the Singapore Grand Prix to claim the team’s second double points finish of the 2022 FIA Formula 1 World Championship season.

Both Lance Stroll and Sebastian Vettel were able to make their way up into the top ten on the opening later, with Vettel particularly enjoying a remarkable start to the race with the German climbing five places to eighth by the end of the opening lap. The Aston Martin duo had taken advantage of Max Verstappen’s poor start to the race but the Dutchmen would soon be passing Lance Stroll on the second lap and would eventually make his way past Sebastian Vettel at the safety-car restart on the eleventh lap of the race.

A mistake from Yuki Tsunoda on lap twenty-one would allow Stroll to rejoin the point-paying positions and just moments later both Aston Martin drivers would be moving up a place in the order as Fernando Alonso’s race came to an abrupt end.

The Aston Martin pitwall followed the rest of the grid in electing to pit both drivers onto a set of medium tyres on lap thirty-four, with Sebastian Vettel coming in first, followed by Lance Stroll a lap later. A slow out-lap from Vettel would subsequently allow Stroll to execute an overcut on his teammate and rejoin the grid in seventh place.  

In the closing stages of the race Vettel was able to fend off an attack from Lewis Hamilton, with the Brit making a mistake into turn eight with just one minute remaining in the Grand Prix, allowing Verstappen to mount a late charge towards the German driver. Verstappen was successful in his pursuit for seventh place as he passed Vettel on the run into turn seven on the final lap of the race but the Dutchmen was unable to pass Lance Stroll, who finished two seconds ahead of the championship leader in sixth place.

A sixth and eighth place finish for Aston Martin provided the Silverstone-based team with their most successful day of the 2022 Formula 1 season and crucially for the team they now move ahead of Scuderia AlphaTauri and Haas F1 Team in the Constructor’s Standings. Speaking on his team’s day, Mike Krack was keen to praise both drivers for prevailing in troublesome conditions around the Marina Bay Street Circuit.

“Lance drove fast yet patiently to sixth place, scoring an excellent eight World Championship points for us; Sebastian, finishing eighth, added four more, pipped for seventh on the final lap by a hard-charging [Max] Verstappen. On a very slippery track surface, both our drivers handled an extremely tricky task superbly. As a result, we have climbed a couple of places in the Constructors’ World Championship, which is a welcome reward for the steady progress we have been making recently.

“As ever, Formula One is a team effort, and in particular I want to pay tribute to our mechanics, who have worked long and hard in very humid conditions over the past few days, and executed our pit stops brilliantly this evening. I also want to thank the team back home at Silverstone, who also did a fantastic job. From here we go to Suzuka, a very different kind of circuit, and we hope to maintain our forward momentum there.”

Credit: Octane Photographic Ltd