Mike Krack confident Aston Martin can compete in F1's leading group

Following the Bahrain Grand Prix, the AMR24 showed promising pace, establishing itself as the fifth fastest car in the leading group based on race performance, with both cars finishing in the points at ninth and 10th positions.

The team's resurgence continued with strong showings in subsequent races. Fernando Alonso delivered a stellar performance, securing fifth place in Saudi Arabia and crossing the line in sixth in Australia, though a penalty affected his final result. 

In Japan, Alonso's impressive form continued as he claimed sixth place, describing the weekend as one of the best in his career.

While Alonso shone on track, his teammate Lance Stroll faced challenges but showcased resilience by climbing from 16th on the grid to finish 12th, overtaking multiple competitors along the way.

Krack highlighted Alonso's notable achievement of outpacing both Mercedes drivers at Suzuka as evidence that Aston Martin is now competing on equal footing with the leading group in terms of race pace, a significant step forward from their previous position.

"I think we can agree that we were not in no man's land and that is positive," said Krack.

"Because here, with the high degradation and - you can pass, we have seen you can pass in incredible places, although I wasn't aware that you can pass through the Esses - but you see that with a large enough pace delta and tyre delta, you can do it if you're brave enough.

"But we did not seem to be in no-man's land. We seem to be in the pack. We were ahead of the Mercedes. So that is very encouraging.

"But again, it's one data point. Bahrain is easier to pass than here. But we were never really under threat, let's put it like that. Let's see, we need to confirm over the next races."