2025 Aston Martin | Aramco F1 Team

[diffuser]

And that was the concern. He needed some seasoned paddock people to make the hiring decisions. Somebody who knows the behind the scenes contributions well across teams. I think Whitmarsh was supposed to be that guy but his reputation is a bit shaky so not a surprise that they have had such mixed results with a up and down trajectory.

The plan was never 2024, it was always 2026. Before that it was finish the buildings mode. That was Whitmarsh's job and why he left when he did and bring in Cowell. Krack was TD cause they needed someone to do the work he is doing and needed a face, which Lawrence didn't want to do on the day to day. Krack was always a bridge to 2026.The team (at the time Fallows and the French Aero guy Eric B, Krack, etc) decided on who they wanted and Lawrence went after them. I think Cowell was always sitting on the side line waiting for Whitmarsh to retire. Cowell said he wanted a break when he retired from Merc. Cowell and Whitmarsh are friends and I felt that Cowell replacing Whitmarsh was planned for a while. The Cardille and Newey stuff sounds like it was all Lawrence. My Guess is Cardille was the guy Lawrence picked to be the real TD and Newey was cause Fallows, in Lawrence's eyes, didn't work out.

I think the initial team was setup with the goal to win with them within a timeframe of 5 years. By all accounts, Lawrence offered generous pay raises to all big recruits. I dont think anyone was a bridge hire.

I think the Newey situation was either complete happenstance with the Red Bull in fighting or Lawrence really upped the pursuit after the setbacks with the initial team. And once he was coming on board, Whitmarsh had to go. I would really like to know how (who all were involved) AM decided to hire Fallows, Blandin, etc.

Mike Krack became involved with the team after being offered a position, even though he wasn’t actively looking to return to Formula 1 at the time, as he was then working with BMW Motorsport. His role expanded when he assumed the duties previously held by Otmar Szafnauer, who left the team of his own accord rather than being dismissed. Prior to Szafnauer’s departure, he and Krack shared responsibilities. Eventually, Krack assumed Otmar's responsibility, which have more recently been passed on to Andy Cowell. I will not be surprised if those responsibilities, plus more, are handed over to Enrico Cardile in the near future.

[-wkst-]

Krack and Szafnauer never worked together at AMR.

Szafnauer was CEO and TP. In 2021 Stroll decided to hire a new CEO, Whitmarsh. Szafnauer, now just TP stayed with the team for some more months but decided to split because most duties were taken to CEO Whitmarsh. Krack replaced Whitmarsh as TP. After Cowell replaced Whitmarsh as CEO, Cowell decided to take over the role as TP too. As was Szafnauer until 2021.

That has nothing to do with responsibilities of Cardile.

[diffuser]

Krack and Szafnauer never worked together at AMR.

Szafnauer was CEO and TP. In 2021 Stroll decided to hire a new CEO, Whitmarsh. Szafnauer, now just TP stayed with the team for some more months but decided to split because most duties were taken to CEO Whitmarsh. Krack replaced Whitmarsh as TP. After Cowell replaced Whitmarsh as CEO, Cowell decided to take over the role as TP too. As was Szafnauer until 2021.

That has nothing to do with responsibilities of Cardile.

It’s possible the initial plan was for them to share the role, but Otmar left before it could happen. I recall Otmar wasn’t happy after some of his responsibilities were taken away, which prompted him to start looking for a new job.

[zoroastar]

Krack and Szafnauer never worked together at AMR.

Szafnauer was CEO and TP. In 2021 Stroll decided to hire a new CEO, Whitmarsh. Szafnauer, now just TP stayed with the team for some more months but decided to split because most duties were taken to CEO Whitmarsh. Krack replaced Whitmarsh as TP. After Cowell replaced Whitmarsh as CEO, Cowell decided to take over the role as TP too. As was Szafnauer until 2021.

That has nothing to do with responsibilities of Cardile.

It’s possible the initial plan was for them to share the role, but Otmar left before it could happen. I recall Otmar wasn’t happy after some of his responsibilities were taken away, which prompted him to start looking for a new job.

he still seems to be looking too. i havent thought that cardile would take over as team principle. i dont think that was what his initial hiring was about, pre newey, but that may make sense. the team seems really disconnected with all the top guys covering multiple spots and in jobs that they werent even hired to do initially. hopefully theres a master plan somewhere and it all about to fall into place. next season will be interesting. new power unit supplier, suspensions and gearboxes. along with a completely new chassis and power unit, all at once. seems pretty overwhelming

[diffuser]

Krack and Szafnauer never worked together at AMR.

Szafnauer was CEO and TP. In 2021 Stroll decided to hire a new CEO, Whitmarsh. Szafnauer, now just TP stayed with the team for some more months but decided to split because most duties were taken to CEO Whitmarsh. Krack replaced Whitmarsh as TP. After Cowell replaced Whitmarsh as CEO, Cowell decided to take over the role as TP too. As was Szafnauer until 2021.

That has nothing to do with responsibilities of Cardile.

It’s possible the initial plan was for them to share the role, but Otmar left before it could happen. I recall Otmar wasn’t happy after some of his responsibilities were taken away, which prompted him to start looking for a new job.

he still seems to be looking too. i havent thought that cardile would take over as team principle. i dont think that was what his initial hiring was about, pre newey, but that may make sense. the team seems really disconnected with all the top guys covering multiple spots and in jobs that they werent even hired to do initially. hopefully theres a master plan somewhere and it all about to fall into place. next season will be interesting. new power unit supplier, suspensions and gearboxes. along with a completely new chassis and power unit, all at once. seems pretty overwhelming

He may take some of the responsibilities not the job. He was a TD at Ferrari. So he's gonna be in that vain.TPs are Managers.

[-wkst-]

It’s possible the initial plan was for them to share the role, but Otmar left before it could happen. I recall Otmar wasn’t happy after some of his responsibilities were taken away, which prompted him to start looking for a new job.

Why should Krack and Szafnauer share the TP position, after the TP role was divided from the CEO position. Makes no sense.

[diffuser]

It’s possible the initial plan was for them to share the role, but Otmar left before it could happen. I recall Otmar wasn’t happy after some of his responsibilities were taken away, which prompted him to start looking for a new job.

Why should Krack and Szafnauer share the TP position, after the TP role was divided from the CEO position. Makes no sense.

I don't know, ask Lawrence why he did that.

I can guess that he didn't want to fire Otmar outright. Otmar had hired most of the people that worked at AMR at that point, so Lawrence didn't want the team to turn on him. If Lawrence was trying to get rid of Otmar without firing him, it worked perfectly.

[diffuser]

@Otromundo In this video about front wings—around the 8–9 minute mark—the Alpine engineer mentions that nowadays, when they design a new front wing, it consists of a base structure with interchangeable flaps to cover the full downforce range."

[-wkst-]

I don't know, ask Lawrence why he did that.

Again, that didn’t happen. Szafnauer resigned and as the successor Krack was recruited.

[diffuser]

I don't know, ask Lawrence why he did that.

Again, that didn’t happen. Szafnauer resigned and as the successor Krack was recruited.

Right Otmar left on January 5, 2022 and poof Mike Krack started at Aston Martin on the 14th. And nobody knew about it till then.

Martin Whitmarsh joined Aston Martin Performance Technologies as Group Chief Executive Officer on October 1, 2021. Soon After Otmar Szafnauer, who was the Team Principal of Aston Martin, had his responsibilities "taken away" according to his own statements. He mentioned that after the arrival of Martin Whitmarsh as CEO of the new Aston Martin Performance Technologies Group, the management structure changed, and he no longer had the influence he previously had.
Szafnauer indicated that the responsibilities he used to have before were never given back, and he was told that he was not running the team anymore.
Despite this, Szafnauer had initially stated that his role was not changing and that he would report to Martin Whitmarsh"

[-wkst-]

I don't know, ask Lawrence why he did that.

Again, that didn’t happen. Szafnauer resigned and as the successor Krack was recruited.

Right Otmar left on January 5, 2022 and poof Mike Krack started at Aston Martin on the 14th. And nobody knew about it till then.

Mate, it’s not like Szafnauer decided on January 5th to leave, it’s just the date they announced it. Such thing have lead times. Krack mentioned in an interview his recruiting process, that he was surprised that he was approached by the team after Szafnauer decided to leave. He was the most surprised that they approached him for the TP position and not an engineer position.

[diffuser]

Again, that didn’t happen. Szafnauer resigned and as the successor Krack was recruited.

Right Otmar left on January 5, 2022 and poof Mike Krack started at Aston Martin on the 14th. And nobody knew about it till then.

Mate, it’s not like Szafnauer decided on January 5th to leave, it’s just the date they announced it. Such thing have lead times. Krack mentioned in an interview his recruiting process, that he was surprised that he was approached by the team after Szafnauer decided to leave. He was the most surprised that they approached him for the TP position and not an engineer position.

All we know is, when he left and that he wasn't happy cause he didn't have all the authority he had before. How long he though about it, I don't know. I know he didn't start @ Alpine till February 2022. So they weren't gonna fire him but they reduced his authority prior to him leaving.

Anyways...I'm done talking about this. I'm moving on.