F1: Krack not first choice as Aston Martin boss

(GMM) Mike Krack (shown above) wasn’t the only candidate to become the new team boss at Aston Martin for 2022.

The Dutch publication Formule 1 claims that after losing Otmar Szafnauer to Alpine, Aston Martin put the feelers out to Graham Watson.

New Zealander Watson is the team manager at Alpha Tauri – the second Red Bull-owned F1 team.

“At first I thought someone was playing a joke on me,” Watson said.

“After going quiet for a while, my wife asked me what’s going on. I said they want me to be the team principal at Aston Martin.”

Watson, 54, asked the Silverstone based team for a day to think it over.

Ultimately, he concluded: “A team boss sometimes has to twist the truth a bit – be very political. And frankly, I am not.

“I’m a New Zealander. We are quite direct and say things as they are.”

However, Watson has indeed taken on a brand new role in Formula 1 – working as the right-hand man for the sport’s managing director Ross Brawn.

“So far I like it very much – I feel at home here,” he said.