Mike Krack

Not to be confused with Mikecrack.

Mike Krack
Born	(1972-03-18) 18 March 1972 (age 52)  Luxembourg
Nationality	Luxembourgish
Occupation	Team principal
Employer	Aston Martin Formula One Team

Mike Krack (born 18 March 1972) is a Luxembourgish motorsports engineer.^[1] He worked at BMW Sauber F1 as the chief engineer, at Porsche WEC team as head of track engineering, and at BMW M as the Head of Engineering, Operations and Organization for Racing and Testing.^[2] He also had stints in Formula Three and DTM.^{[citation needed]} In 2022, he became the team principal of Aston Martin Formula One Team.^[3]

Career

Krack started his engineering journey at BMW in July 1998 with the role of test engineer. He left the role at the start of 2001 to join Sauber. He rose through the ranks, beginning as a data analysis engineer. He was promoted in December 2003 to become Felipe Massa's race engineer and eventually was given the role of chief engineer when they became BMW Sauber.^[4] Here, he worked with a young Sebastian Vettel through practice sessions until his debut in the 2007 United States Grand Prix.^[5]

Krack left BMW when they made the decision to focus on 2009 rather than Robert Kubica's title challenge in 2008. He then had stints at Kolles & Heinz Union and Hitech, both in Formula Three. He returned to BMW as chief engineer of the DTM department in October 2010 but left at the end of 2012 to join Porsche.^[6] There, he was given the role of Head of Track Engineering for their World Endurance Championship team. He worked closely on the Porsche 919 Hybrid, which would take one victory and four podiums.^[7]

Krack left in 2014 to re-join BMW again as senior performance engineer. From 2014 to 2022, he went through many roles, including overseeing their Formula E, IMSA, and GT programmes. In 2018, he was given the role of Head of Race & Test Engineering, Operations & Organisation.^[8][9][10] On 14 January 2022, Krack was announced as team principal of Aston Martin Formula One Team,^[11] following the departure of Otmar Szafnauer.^[12]

References

1. "MIKE KRACK". P1Mag-eZine. 18 March 2009. Archived from the original on 19 October 2012. Retrieved 14 January 2022.
2. Armitage, Tom (14 January 2022). "Aston Martin Appoints Mike Krack as Principal of F1 Team". Autobala. Archived from the original on 14 January 2022. Retrieved 14 January 2022.
3. "Mike Krack joins AMCF1 as Team Principal". Aston Martin F1. 14 January 2022. Archived from the original on 14 January 2022. Retrieved 14 January 2022.
4. "Who is who in the BMW Sauber F1 Team". F1Network. 28 July 2008. Retrieved 15 January 2022.
5. "Krack embraces Vettel again: "Fantastic to find him" – F1 Team – Formula 1". Italy 24News. 14 January 2022. Retrieved 15 January 2022.
6. "Porsche denies preparing for F1 foray". Motor1. 17 October 2012. Archived from the original on 27 October 2020. Retrieved 15 January 2022.
7. "SEASON 2014 RESULTS". FIAWEC. Archived from the original on 22 April 2021. Retrieved 15 January 2022.
8. Maher, Thomas (14 January 2022). "Mike Krack: All you need to know about Aston Martin's new F1 team boss". Racing News 365. Retrieved 15 January 2022.
9. "Mike Krack". LinkedIn. Retrieved 14 January 2022.
10. Smith, Sam (15 March 2021). "BMW RESTRUCTURES ITS MOTORSPORT ARM AMID CHAMPIONSHIP EXITS". Stanging.The-Race. Retrieved 15 January 2022.
11. "Former BMW motorsports head Mike Krack appointed Aston Martin Team Principal | Formula 1". Formula1. 14 January 2022. Archived from the original on 14 January 2022. Retrieved 14 January 2022.
12. "Otmar Szafnauer: Aston Martin Formula One CEO and team principal departs". Sky Sports. Archived from the original on 6 January 2022. Retrieved 14 January 2022.