After the race in Bahrain, the AMR24 car seemed to be the fifth fastest among the leading group during the race, finishing in ninth and tenth places.
Fernando Alonso did well in Saudi Arabia, finishing fifth, and in Australia, he came sixth before getting a penalty.
In Japan, Alonso finished sixth, saying it was one of his best weekends ever. His teammate, Lance Stroll, faced more challenges but moved up from 16th place to 12th, passing several cars on the way.
Krack, from the team, believes Alonso’s performance at Suzuka, where he beat both Mercedes drivers, shows that the team is not at the back anymore.
“I think we can agree that we were not in no man’s land and that is positive,” he said. “Because here, with the high degradation and – you can pass, we have seen you can pass in incredible places, although I wasn’t aware that you can pass through the Esses – but you see that with a large enough pace delta and tire delta, you can do it if you’re brave enough.
“But we did not seem to be in no-man’s land. We seem to be in the pack. We were ahead of the Mercedes. So that is very encouraging.
“But again, it’s one data point. Bahrain is easier to pass than here. But we were never really under threat, let’s put it like that. Let’s see, we need to confirm over the next races.”
Krack also mentioned that starting Alonso on soft tyres paid off because of various factors, like the weather and interruptions during the race.
Regarding the new upgrades introduced in Suzuka, Krack said they are still analyzing the data and it’s too early to give a full assessment. They need more time to understand how much the changes have improved the car and where they can go from here.
