The 42-year-old driver is currently in his second season with Aston Martin, having taken over from Sebastian Vettel at the beginning of 2023.
According to Krack, Alonso’s influence extends far beyond his performance on the track, as he continues to motivate and push the team in all aspects of their operations. “We’ve seen that last year already when he joined,” Krack remarked.
“It’s not only what he brings in terms of proven talent and racecraft; that, I think, we don’t have to discuss. He brings this extra to the team, driving and pushing and motivating everybody. And leading by example, from the first moment in the morning to late at night, which is exemplary. And this is something that is infecting the whole team, that is something that you want to preserve.”
Krack illustrated Alonso’s impact with an incident from the Saudi Arabian Grand Prix, where Alonso’s strategic questioning not only kept the team on their toes but also provided an added challenge for their competitors.
“He asked for the Plan B, basically,” Krack explained. “‘Is there a Plan B?’ Fernando is always teasing you, you have to be careful if he’s really honest about it because he knows all the strategies before, he knows where the field is.
Sometimes, he does it even on purpose because he knows the competitors are listening. So he’s an old fox. But he always wakes us up.
As soon as you think for one lap you can read it, there comes a radio call, and he says, ‘What about Plan B?’, like Fernando always does. So we then had a look at the Plan B, but you will not finish where you finish with Plan B.”
Krack also praised Alonso’s defensive skills during the race, particularly in keeping George Russell behind and preventing him from using DRS for many laps. “It was quite strong,” he noted. “We knew George was behind, he had good speed, and we did not want to let him into the DRS. So it was all the time between 1.5 and 1.0 seconds in between them.
And then it is always how much do I manage, and how much do I push to get to the end? But I think he managed it like probably nobody else can. I don’t know where he got the gaps from. In my opinion, he was always on top of the situation.”
Looking ahead, Krack emphasized the team’s desire to retain Alonso for the 2025 season, acknowledging that while Alonso has other opportunities to consider, they will strive to keep him by providing a competitive car. “It’s not a secret that he first of all wants to decide for himself what he wants to do,” Krack stated.
“And I think it’s also not a secret that I keep saying that we want to continue working with Fernando. And I also said that the most important thing is that we give him a quick car. So that he believes in this project, and that he believes in this team and everything else we will have to discuss over the weeks to come. Now, it is clear that a driver of that caliber is attractive for everybody, but we will try to keep him.”
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