SILVERSTONE, England (AP) — Aston Martin has replaced Mike Krack as team principal but is keeping him in a high-profile role at Formula 1 races after a disappointing 2024 season.

The team said Friday that Krack, who had been team principal since 2022, would move to a new role as Chief Trackside Officer focusing on “getting the most performance out of the car at the racetrack”.

Chief executive Andy Cowell — who led Mercedes’ engine program during its run of titles in the 2010s — will now double up as team principal. Cowell joined the team last year and became chief executive in October. Krack’s trackside team will report to Cowell, and so will the staff at Aston Martin’s headquarters in England.

Aston Martin said the change was made to ensure “clarity of leadership and as part of a shift to a flatter structure.”

Aston Martin was fifth in the constructors’ standings in 2024, the same position as in 2023. However, with Aston Martin aiming to become a title-winning team in future, the season was widely seen as a step backward as it lost ground to better-performing rivals like McLaren and Ferrari.

Fernando Alonso finished on the podium eight times for Aston Martin in 2023, but the team’s best result of 2024 was his fifth place at the Saudi Arabian Grand Prix.

The organization shakeup also comes ahead of the arrival in March of car design great Adrian Newey. He left Red Bull last year and will have the title of “managing technical partner.”

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AP auto racing: https://apnews.com/hub/auto-racing