Aston Martin have confirmed that Fernando Alonso and Lance Stroll will be unable to finish even half the distance at the opening Australian Grand Prix this weekend, fearing lasting nerve injury because of a vibration issue with their car.
Team boss Adrian Newey – also the designer of the new chassis – disclosed on Thursday in the Melbourne paddock that both drivers were experiencing such intense vibration through the steering wheel that they could only manage 25 laps and 15 laps respectively.
“The vibration travelling into the chassis is creating a number of reliability faults – mirrors coming loose, rear‑light units detaching, that sort of thing – which we are now forced to address,” he said.
“The far more serious concern is that the vibration is ultimately transmitted to the drivers’ fingers. Fernando believes he cannot exceed 25 consecutive laps without risking permanent nerve damage to his hands. Lance, who has suffered several wrist problems, feels the limit for him is about 15 laps before reaching that threshold.”
The source of the vibration lies in the power unit and is amplified across the car’s structure. Although Honda, the engine supplier, has tried to apply “counter‑measures”, the attempts have not resolved the problem.
Alonso, who was openly critical when he dealt with an under‑performing Honda unit at McLaren between 2015 and 2017, also voiced his worries.
“The vibrations coming from the engine are affecting the car’s components and we, as drivers, feel them,” he said. “After 20 or 25 minutes the frequency makes our hands feel a little numb.
“It shouldn’t be there and we don’t know the long‑term effects if we keep driving like this for months. A solution has to be found.”
The disclosure is a major setback for Aston Martin, which has already faced difficulties in pre‑season testing. The car could not complete a full three‑day session in Barcelona, and its runs in Bahrain were heavily limited by reliability issues centred on the Honda engine. It now appears the drivers cannot even complete a normal stint because of the vibration.
Speaking publicly for the first time this season, Newey delivered the news in the team’s hospitality suite, accompanied by Koji Watanabe, president of Honda Racing. Honda returns this year as an engine supplier, but at its launch earlier in the year the company admitted it had not met its performance targets, with tests indicating the unit was under‑powered and unreliable.
Newey also admitted that he has not yet had a thorough discussion about the vibration problem with Watanabe.
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