Krack says Aston Martin got its opening tyre call wrong at Sepang

Mike Krack said Aston Martin got its opening tyre call wrong at the Bahrain Grand Prix in Malaysia, held at Sepang. The race began on a wet but drying track, with both cars on medium slicks. Lance Stroll quickly switched to intermediates, while Fernando Alonso stayed out, hoping a Safety Car would make a later stop cheaper and close up the field.

The Safety Car Alonso had hoped for arrived. Krack said Aston was fortunate that it brought the field back together, giving Alonso a chance to recover. After the restart, Alonso made steady progress and passed Arvid Lindblad to reach the points just before a late VSC became a second full Safety Car. George Russell's retirement and a mishap for Lando Norris then promoted Alonso to eighth; Stroll finished 12th.

Krack said half the field had made the same initial tyre choice as Aston Martin. He also said half the field had not got it right, and that Aston needed to review its own call.

Alonso's eighth place gave Aston Martin its first points since August. He attributed the stronger weekend to the circuit and said some other weeks remained very uncompetitive; Krack said Aston still lacked the pace to score regularly.