Aston Martin’s power unit supplier Honda insists the vibrations both Fernando Alonso and Lance Stroll continue to experience are a “key area to address”, after the team’s double DNF at the Chinese Grand Prix.
Stroll retired from the second race of the season on lap nine due to a “suspected battery issue”, while Alonso withdrew with 21 laps remaining, citing “discomfort due to the vibrations of the car.”
After Aston team principal Adrian Newey revealed at the first race in Australia that both drivers were worried about “permanent nerve damage”, Shanghai saw no signs of the problem being solved. Onboard footage shows 44-year-old Alonso letting go of the steering wheel at various points, due to the violent oscillations.
The Spaniard said afterwards: “Physically, I could not continue much longer. I started to lose the feeling in my hands and feet. It was not a nice feeling.”
In his customary post-race press release, Honda’s chief engineer Shintaro Orihara noted that the seven retirements from the race in Shanghai proved the 2026 regulations are “far from simple”, but acknowledged that Aston’s power unit provider must “strive to improve.”
A statement read: “We cannot be satisfied with the double DNF in the Chinese Grand Prix today. However, if we focus on the more favourable areas, we ran more miles than in Melbourne which is encouraging.
“We also increased our reliability throughout the Sprint weekend, but this isn’t yet enough to complete the full race distance.
“We have improved the vibrations on the systems side, but it’s still an issue for driver comfort. This is a key area to address as we look ahead to the next race in Japan.
“As for Lance’s DNF, we are currently investigating the root cause and work will continue with HRC Sakura, together with Aston Martin Aramco Formula One Team, to understand what happened on the ninth lap.
“The 2026 regulations are far from simple, as shown by the number of DNFs and DNSs today. We know this isn’t an excuse for our reliability and performance, and we will strive to improve. We have more work ahead of us, and that is our priority right now.”
Aston now have two weeks to work on the AMR26 car before the Japanese Grand Prix, which is Honda’s home event.
