Following the departure of Otmar Szafnauer this winter, Aston Martin has gone in search of a new team principal. The Silverstone team has set its sights on Mike Krack, former director of BMW in the DTM and passed through Formula 1 at the end of the 2000s. Armed with his experience (the German also brought his stone to the building in the Formula E, WEC and IMSA programs), he nevertheless discovered a new universe, Formula 1 having been transformed since his last experience.
In an interview recently published by our colleagues from Motorsport-Total, Gerhard Berger, currently DTM boss, said Krack had “not impressed” him during his time in the German championship. Asked by our microphones in Bahrain, the former pilot did not change his mind, saying that Krack had “confirmed his words”.
“Let’s see what can be done, but when I see what was happening in the DTM, I just can’t imagine any possible progress with him”says Berger. “Since I’ve been in the job, BMW has never been consistently competitive. You can see that every time, they’re in a good position on the grid, and the next day they don’t know why they’re there. afterwards, they find themselves behind and they don’t know why they are there either.”
The manager doesn’t mince his words. “When you witness this over a long period of time, you question the presence of the people behind it, and Mike Krack was there, he was leading the project. And that’s DTM! DTM is great. But F1 is a different world. Here you have to be the best of the best in the world. And I don’t see that here. Sorry I was a little blunt, but someone asked me the question, it’s just my opinion.”
Since Marco Wittman’s driver’s title in 2016, BMW has not won a single DTM crown. The constructor has only recorded four victories over the past two years.
But Mike Krack is not the only winter transfer between the DTM and F1. The race director in place this weekend in Bahrain was Niels Wittich, who also officiated in the German championship last year. He is the replacement for Michael Masi and will alternate rounds with Eduardo Freitas (who is also in charge of the World Endurance Championship). An experienced duo named after the restructuring organized within the FIA this winter.
According to Berger, it was important that Wittich be accompanied by Herbie Blash, Charlie Whiting’s historic right-hand man. Blash took over as senior adviser this weekend, a role he will fill throughout the season to support the race directors.
“Herbie understands all aspects of F1. If they listen to him, they will learn”believes the Austrian. “Let’s see how it turns out. It won’t be easy. I have to say, Charlie Whiting was brilliant. But the FIA made a mistake during Charlie’s years in office: they didn’t train anyone on the side. “It’s very, very difficult to have a good race director. There aren’t enough suitable people with the necessary experience. F1 has realized this, as they are struggling to find someone. one. So it’s not a current mistake, but one that was made five years ago. With Charlie, they should have trained one, two or three guys alongside him.”