An Aston Martin car finally crossed the finish in 2026, with Fernando Alonso completing the Japanese Grand Prix. Yet for chief trackside officer Mike Krack, the milestone brings more restraint than relief.
After a bruising start to the season – plagued by reliability issues tied to its new Honda power unit – the Silverstone squad has been fighting simply to complete races. Suzuka marked progress, but not a turnaround.
“The mood in the team is not celebration, that is clear,” Krack told the media at Suzuka.
To understand Krack’s caution, one must rewind just a few weeks. In Melbourne, Aston Martin struggled to complete even a handful of laps. Shanghai brought incremental gains, but only through relentless between-session repairs.
Suzuka, at least, offered a more stable platform.
“But when you look back in Melbourne, we discussed doing six laps. In Shanghai we managed to do the sessions, but we had in-between sessions a lot of work to be able to do all the sessions. This was not the case here,” Krack explained.
“So the cars could be prepared normally between the sessions, and our objective, it is a modest objective, clearly, was to finish a race with both cars. We managed with one.
“So it’s one small step on the list with many, many, many small steps to be done.”
It is hardly the language of a team celebrating success. Instead, it reflects a squad still buried in recovery mode – measuring progress not in points, but in basic functionality.
Progress tempered by reality
Alonso’s race distance came despite ongoing vibration issues that have troubled both him and teammate Lance Stroll. That the Spaniard endured 53 laps at Suzuka – while also celebrating the birth of his first child – offered a rare positive in an otherwise difficult campaign.
There was also quiet significance for Honda, whose power unit completed its first full race distance of the year on home soil.
But Krack is adamant: finishing races should never become a headline achievement.
“As a team you cannot destroy yourself,” he said. “We are in a difficult situation, and you need to take the positives from the last three months.
“We went to Barcelona at the end of January, and since then, we have not done many laps.We have now managed to finish races, which in F1 it should be the norm. It should not be something that you have to celebrate.
“But we have to acknowledge that that is the situation we are in, and then we have to accept it and work our ourselves out of it.
“I think credit to everyone trackside, Sakura and also in Silverstone, how we persisted in getting these initial steps done.”
Read also: F1i Driver Ratings for the 2026 Japanese Grand PrixKrack’s tone is telling – measured, grounded, and acutely aware of the gap between where Aston Martin is and where it expects to be.
The Japanese Grand Prix may represent a foothold after months of instability, but it is far from a turning point. With a four-week break before the next round in Miami, the focus remains on methodical improvement rather than premature optimism.
For now, simply finishing a race is progress. But in Formula 1, progress alone is never the end goal – and Aston Martin knows it has a long way still to climb.
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