Aston Martin pleased with progress: 'Feedback Alonso hugely constructive'

The AMR23's times were good, both in the short and long runs. Aston Martin was not very much slower than Mercedes and the gap with Red Bull Racing was not as big as last year. Still, Krack is not so sure yet where exactly his team stands in the pecking order, he explained to Spanish Marca.

"It is very difficult to make competitive predictions based on just a few days of testing. This is because all tyres were available, we drove with different fuel levels and there are so many other variables to take into account," Krack said. "We are just concentrating on ourselves, preparing as best we can, and working down the list."

The 50-year-old Luxembourger expects to have a better idea of how competitive Aston Martin is after qualifying next week. Krack is happy with the mileage and knows which direction to work in the next period. "We got to know Fernando's driving style better again and know what he wants from the car. His feedback has been incredibly constructive and the changes we have made have been well received by him."

Alonso himself is also happy with the progression, but he expects to need a few more weeks to really excel with the 2023 car."We are still discovering things in the car. We are experimenting with the set-up, among other things. If we add everything up, we need a few races to really master it. There is no time to cram everything we want to test into three days of testing," said the two-time world champion according to AS.