Gerhard Berger says he was not impressed by Krack’s work in DTM and therefore he doubts Aston Martin’s future.
Aston Martin appointed Mike Krack as their new team principal in January following the departure of Otmar Szafnauer. However, ex-f1 driver Gerhard Berger does not think that the team will have a way forward with Krack.
Prior to his job at Aston Martin, Krack was the boss of BMW’s motorsport programme since 2014. He led its racing interests across series including Formula E, the World Endurance Championship and IMSA.
DTM boss and former driver Berger clearly said that Krack “didn’t impress me” while he was with BMW, in an interview with Motorsport-Total earlier this month.
Adding more to his previous comments in Bahrain last weekend, Berger said he was just giving his opinion.
“Let’s see what can be done, but when I watched what was done in DTM, I just don’t see the way forward for Aston Martin with him,” Berger said.
“In all the years I’ve been there now, [BMW has] never been really consistently competitive.”
He explained that one day you’ll see BMW on the starting grid in a good position and they didn’t know why they are there today. The next day, they stand at the back and they don’t know why there either.
He said, “when you watch it and you see this over a longer period, you question the people behind it, and he was leading it, the project.”
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“And this is DTM! DTM is great. But the F1 is a different league. Here, you need to be the best of the best in the world. I don’t see this. Sorry, I was a bit direct, but it’s just somebody asked me. That’s my opinion.”
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Gerhard Berger thinks FIA made mistake with Charlie Whiting
In DTM, BMW has failed to win a title since 2016 and in the last two years, they have just scored four race wins.
Along with Krack, Niels Wittich has also moved from DTM to F1. Wittich is serving as the race director along with Eduardo Freitas.
They formerly served as WEC race director. In f1, they will be supported by Herbie Blash, who was the long-serving deputy to the late Charlie Whiting. Blash will take up the role of a senior advisor this year.
“Herbie understands the business in and out, so if they listen to him, they’re going to learn,” Berger said.
“Let’s see what comes out. It’s not gonna be easy. But I have to say, Charlie Whiting was brilliant. But the FIA made a mistake in the years with Charlie, they never built up somebody else.
“It’s very, very difficult to get a good race director. And there are not enough experts with experience. Formula 1 now sees it, they are in great difficulty to find the right guys.
“So it’s a mistake not now, it is a mistake [made] five years ago, still with Charlie [they had] to build one, two, three guys up.”
