After ‘Secret FIA Ban,’ Aston Martin Boss Hypes the Upgrades on Car in Chase of F1 Glory

Aston Martin had started off the 2023 season on an extremely strong note only to see a major downfall towards the end of the first half. It was recently reported that this drop in performance might have been a result of a secret ban put on the team by the FIA which rendered their upgrades useless. Amidst all of the speculations regarding this secret ban, team principal Mike Krack has revealed that their upgrades were completely working, as reported by GPBlog .

After achieving 5 podium finishes in the first seven races of the season, Aston Marting brought in new upgrades at the Canadian GP, in an attempt to push the car even closer to RB19 of Max Verstappen. The Silverstone outfit did get a good result in Canada, but that was the last time they finished on the podium.

Following the Canadian GP, the team has failed to achieve a single podium finish, with their best finishing position being P5. It was understood that the upgrades brought by the team were useless and had instead backfired, causing them to fall down the order. However, Krack thinks otherwise.

Aston Martin fell prey to their own expectations

Mike Krack recently gave an interview that was published on Aston Martin’s website, where he revealed that the drop in performance has nothing to do with their upgrades in Canada. Rather, the upgrades had apparently worked as they were expected to.

Krack said, “The upgrades we put on the car have worked. The numbers are as we expected. The results of the past races are representative of where we stand.” He further explained that the main issue that Aston Martin faced was an increased expectations following their brilliant performance in Monaco and Canada.

Check out some fresh pics of the big Aston Martin upgrade package (sidepods, engine cover, floor). The undercut is much bigger than before.#AMuS #F1 #CanadianGP pic.twitter.com/861IU1S7ic

— Tobi Grüner 🏁 (@tgruener) June 15, 2023

“The races in Monaco and Canada were outliers, they hid our weaknesses, and because we did so well there, expectations only increased,” explained Krack.

According to Aston Martin’s team principal, it was due to this increased expectation, that the results in Britain, Hungary, or Belgium seemed worse than they actually were.

The 33rd for Fernando Alonso

As of now, Aston Martin are P3 in the constructor’s championship, just 5 points ahead of Ferrari, who are closing down fast. As for their star driver Fernando Alonso, the Spaniard is also P3 in the standings, only 1 point ahead of Lewis Hamilton.

Towards the start of the season, after finishing P2 behind Red Bull in several races, Alonso had hoped that he would finally be able to win his 33rd Grand Prix if Aston Martin manages to improve their car further. However, with the current state of the team, the possibility of a 33rd seems far from reality.