Mike Krack was sitting at home feeling under the weather when the discussions began that would ultimately lead to him becoming Aston Martin’s Team Principal, as of March 1 2022.
“I was at Petit Le Mans – and I probably caught Covid at Petit Le Mans,” says Krack, speaking on a Zoom call and dressed smartly in a no-nonsense V-neck sweater, sporting a pair of no-nonsense glasses. “I was sitting in my home office for two weeks quarantining after testing positive [for Covid-19]. Then I got a call from a headhunting agency…”
Initially kept in the dark as to who was interested in his services, Krack said it soon became clear that it was Aston Martin – and they were keen for him to join as Team Principal.
“I have to be honest,” smiles Krack, “I was [flattered] by the opportunity that I was offered. There were several meetings with Martin [Whitmarsh, Aston Martin Group Chief Executive Officer] and with Lawrence [Stroll, Executive Chairman] until we came to a point where we shook hands and we said we can do this.”
The news broke in January that Krack would be taking over the role of team boss at Aston Martin, following the parting of ways between the team and Otmar Szafnauer – himself now taking the reins at Alpine.
Krack’s is not a name widely known inside the world of F1, despite the Luxembourg native’s impressive motorsport career – which includes a stint at Sauber/BMW Sauber as an engineer in the 2000s.
But it was his later career away from F1 that brought him to the attention of Stroll and Whitmarsh, Krack rising up – after a stint at Porsche’s winning World Endurance Championship squad, alongside current McLaren Team Principal Andreas Seidl – to the level of BMW M Motorsport Director, the post he was holding when the headhunters came knocking.
And now, after over 13 years outside of the F1 paddock, he’s back in. And his task is a big one: to spearhead Lawrence Stroll’s five-year plan to turn Aston Martin into World Championship contenders. And it’s clearly not a job the 49-year-old is taking lightly.
“I think Formula 1 is like the Champions League,” says Krack, “and every professional football player wants to play Champions League. It’s the same for motorsport, [whether you’re] an engineer or driver. So, from that point of view, it’s the ultimate place to be.
“At Aston Martin, yes, the pressure is there, but I think you have to turn that into positive pressure. Yes, we want to succeed. We have to succeed, but also, we’ve spent so much time and so much budget, and it’s not for being second or participating.
“Obviously, you cannot switch and be… winning from the first day,” he adds. “But at the end of the day, it’s a huge challenge but it’s also a huge opportunity that we have now. With that brand, the Aston Martin brand, we have all the ingredients that you need to be successful.”