Aston Martin team principal Mike Krack has admitted that there is 'a lot of nail-biting' as the Silverstone-based outfit wait to see if their 2024 challenger will be good enough to compete against their Formula 1 rivals.
After Red Bull swept the competition away in 2023, the rest of the grid are hard at work to do anything they can to catch up to the constructors' champions.
Christian Horner's team have an enormous target on their back, but whether any of Red Bull's rivals can do anything about it is another question entirely.
Aston Martin looked to be one of the main threats to Red Bull at the start of the season, yet they soon faded away, unable to keep up with the developmental upgrades that the likes of McLaren showed as the year progressed.
Krack: Nail-biting wait for 2024 F1 season
And although taking the fight to Red Bull may be out of Aston Martin's realistic achievements for next year, Krack has admitted that he is still nervous when it comes to taking on the rest of the competition next year.
“We're up against formidable competitors, and the big question mark over the winter is always what kind of job other teams have done,” Krack told the team's in-house media.
“There's a lot of nail-biting. You're always asking yourself: 'Have we done enough?'
“Whatever happens, it always results in the same loop: if the cars roll out and we haven't done enough, then we have to work hard to improve.
“If we have done enough, then we have to work hard to improve further. That's the only recipe that works in Formula 1.”