Krack has embarked on a similar career path to McLaren team boss Andreas Seidl, having worked with BMW in F1 early in his career before gaining experience in other categories.
He joined Sauber in 2001 and rose to chief engineer in the works BMW era, working alongside current Aston River Sebastian Vettel for some time.
He left Sauber in 2009 and worked in F3 and DTM before joining the Porsche WEC team in 2012 as Head of Track Engineering, working alongside Seidl.
In 2014 he returned to BMW as an engineer and in 2018 he was promoted to the position of Head of Race and Test Engineering, Operations and Organization.
Krack will work under the direction of team owner Lawrence Stroll and group CEO Martin Whitmarsh, who was appointed late last year.
Marcin Budkowski, whose departure from Alpine was announced yesterday, had previously been linked with an Aston role.
“Aston Martin is one of the biggest automotive brands in the world,” said Krack.
“And to have been asked to play a leading role in achieving the success on the racetrack that such an illustrious name so much deserves is a challenge I look forward to taking on with energy and enthusiasm.
“I have worked in motorsport for over 20 years and worked with Seb Vettel in Formula 1 in 2006 and 2007 when I was BMW-Sauber engineer and he was the team’s test driver.
“I have a lot of respect for his speed and skill and it will be fantastic to be reunited with him. Lance Stroll is also a very fast and talented rider with 100 Grand Prix starts and I am really looking forward to working closely with him.
“Team Silverstone has always impressed me. It’s full of talented people and real racers. The culture and values of these racers are the prerequisites for being successful in motorsport – I know that and so do my new colleagues at Aston Martin. We’re going to work incredibly hard. We want to win. Together we will do it.”
Whitmarsh said: “Mike Krack is just the right kind of dynamic and modern Team Principal who, working alongside our other senior executives led by Lawrence and my overall leadership, and with our ever-growing team of skilled and dedicated staff, will deliver the F1 World Championship success, which we at Aston Martin really want to achieve.
“Having worked in very senior positions in motorsport at BMW and Porsche, Mike has a technical background in Formula 1 at Sauber and has a mix of experience and expertise that makes him the ideal choice for us.
“He works well with drivers as he has prioritized that aspect of his role at BMW over the last few years and also with engineers as he speaks their language.”
Lawrence Stroll added, “We hire brilliant new people every week. Our new factory construction is progressing very well. We have a fantastic list of excellent sponsorship partners. We are about to start the second year of our five year plan to win F1 World Championships.
“All the ingredients we need come together. Mike will play a central and senior role, reporting to Martin Whitmarsh and leading our technical and operational functions, with our common goal being to deliver on these lofty ambitions. We are on our way.”
BMW acted quickly to appoint Krack’s successor by appointing Andreas Roos as the new head of motorsport programs effective February 1st.
Roos was recruited from Audi, previously responsible for the DTM effort, before taking on project management of the works motorsport department, including the forthcoming LMDh project and the Dakar Rally programme.
