Aston Martin insists its one-shot upgrade gamble is no different to Ferrari\u2019s constant stream of updates, with Mike Krack comparing Formula 1\u2019s cost cap to spending a fixed \u20ac100 budget at the supermarket.<\/p>\n
Unlike Ferrari, which has been bringing upgrades almost every weekend, including two big packages in Miami and Barcelona, Aston Martin has held back, with team principal Adrian Newey favouring one massive change with a B-spec car expected to be on the track at the Hungarian Grand Prix.<\/p>\n
Mike Krack explains Aston Martin\u2019s Formula 1 upgrade strategy<\/p>\n
Want more PlanetF1.com coverage? Add us as a preferred source on Google<\/a> to your favourites list for news you can trust.<\/p>\n Formula 1\u2019s radical overhaul of the regulations, coupled with Aston Martin\u2019s new partnership with the championship-winning Honda power unit manufacturer, was widely tipped to bring Aston Martin into play this season. The partnership, though, has fallen short of expectations.<\/p>\n Although Honda\u2019s vibration issues dominated the early headlines, Aston Martin has also struggled with gearbox issuesas well as an overall lack of downforce, while the chassis is also overweight.<\/p>\n With one solitary point in nine race weekends, Aston Martin<\/a> is tenth in the constructors\u2019 championship, only ahead of newcomers Cadillac.<\/p>\n Newey believes the team will turn its fortunes around with the Budapest package, which he is predicting will be a \u201clarge step\u201d forward<\/a>.<\/p>\n In a season in which the new cars are in their infancy, it is a notably different upgrade philosophy from the likes of Ferrari.<\/p>\n Aston Martin\u2019s chief trackside officer explained to PlanetF1.com and other media, \u201cIt depends on the plan.<\/p>\n \u201cAt the end of the day, a decision was made, you will recall, that we will not bring race on race and race, and if their plan was different, then it was different.<\/p>\n \u201cYou must just not forget one thing; if you bring an upgrade every week, you have to plan this long in advance.<\/p>\n \u201cYou cannot say I was poor in Austria, and I have an upgrade in Silverstone the week after. So this is all following a plan that has taken a long time to do, where you factor everything in \u2013 logistics, production, technicalities of the circuit, and all that.<\/p>\n \u201cSo, at each team has a plan, and they work to their conditions.\u201d<\/p>\n At a time when Mercedes\u2019 team principal Toto Wolff declared that Ferrari \u201cneeds to be running out of money soon\u201d<\/a> given the sport\u2019s cost cap, Krack says it is more a case of different teams having different philosophies.<\/p>\n This year the budget cap is set at $215 million, and when a team hits that, it can no longer develop the car. It could also find itself short on parts in the event of an accident.<\/p>\n But each team has to decide who it wants to spend its\u2019 money at the supermarket.<\/p>\n \u201cYou go to the supermarket, and you have \u20ac100 in your pocket. You can only spend \u20ac100,\u201d he explained about the cost cap. \u201cIf you get something for free, it is out of the hundreds. Yeah, so it\u2019s the same.<\/p>\n \u201cSo you develop your car, if you have spent your 100, you cannot spend any more.<\/p>\n \u201cSo you need to see when you have everything, and then one thing you must not forget is you can have crashes, so you need to keep some margin to spend your 100 euro cleverly yet towards the end.<\/p>\n \u201cSo it is a consistent balance between development and cost of racing, basically.<\/p>\n \u201cThen you try obviously, you know we have a lot of new people who are trying to do a lot better processes so the parts become cheaper, for example.<\/p>\n \u201cYeah, so this whole thing is permanently trying to optimise, so that you get much more for your \u20ac100s.\u201d<\/p>\n But whether he likes the limit or not, it is the same for everyone.<\/p>\n \u201cI do not want to argue if it\u2019s needed or not. I think it\u2019s the regulation.<\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s like the car must weigh this, or the engine has to have this number of cylinders. It is the regulations that you accept, and then you have to do the best with them.<\/p>\n \u201cIn Formula 1, you need to be efficient with how you do your parts, how you manage everything. You have to work with not only the technical challenge or the sporting challenge, but you also have the financial challenge, and that\u2019s part of Formula 1.\u201d<\/p>\n Additional reporting by Thomas Maher<\/p>\n Want to be the first to know exclusive information from the F1 paddock? Join our broadcast channel on WhatsApp<\/a> to get the scoop on the latest developments from our team of accredited journalists.<\/p>\n You can also subscribe to the PlanetF1 YouTube channel<\/a> for exclusive features, hear from our paddock journalists with stories from the heart of Formula 1 and much more!<\/p>\n