New Adrian Newey strategy explained in ‘same questions’ Aston Martin quip

Ahead of the British Grand Prix, Aston Martin design chief and team principal Adrian Newey gave a very open update on himself and the team.

This extensive interview followed an extended silence from Newey. Aston Martin’s chief trackside officer Mike Krack quipped that the “same questions” being asked triggered this strategy change, with Newey opening up on personal and team complications after a troubled start for Aston Martin-Honda.

Adrian Newey shift explained in ‘same questions’ quip

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After attending the season-opening Australian Grand Prix, Newey did not return to the paddock until Monaco, following a period of illness.

Even then, interaction between Newey and the media was effectively zero, and had remained that way until now.

Prior to the British GP, an in-house Aston Martin interview with Newey was released. In that interview, he discussed his health struggles for the first time, the team’s on-track woes, and the much-needed upgraded AMR26 cars that are coming.

Ahead of the race weekend getting underway at Silverstone, Aston Martin’s Mike Krack was asked why Newey was suddenly so open in this new Aston Martin interview, at this time.

With a smile, Krack replied to PlanetF1.com and others: “Because you will keep asking the same questions, and we thought we need to be a bit more open [laughs].”

Aston Martin finds itself still in a challenging spot going into the British GP. With the team opting not to upgrade the AMR26 ahead of the ‘B-Spec’ arriving, recent rounds have been tough.

The AMR26 proved comfortably the slowest car in Barcelona and Austria.

But, a returning dynamic comes into play across the grid at Silverstone. Energy harvesting and deployment could play a critical role once again.

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Max Verstappen and Lewis Hamilton are among the drivers to have raised energy concerns for the high-speed Silverstone circuit. Copse, followed by the iconic sweeps of Maggotts and Becketts, is a section particularly under the microscope.

Krack was asked about the potential for drivers needing to lift through such corners to harvest energy.

“It depends on the conditions, on the fuel, and then also on how you optimise your energy,” he said.

“You might see that lifting in some places is more beneficial for overall lap time, although the corner could go faster.

“So all you have to look at is that you manage your energy the most lap-time efficient, and there are easier tracks than this one for that.”

Aston Martin sit 10th in the Constructors’ standings, by virtue of Fernando Alonso’s Monaco point, heading into the British Grand Prix.

Additional reporting by Thomas Maher

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