Aston Martin team principal Adrian Newey has revealed that drivers Fernando Alonso and Lance Stroll are at risk of permanent nerve damage due to severe vibrations from their Honda power unit, threatening their ability to complete the Australian Grand Prix this weekend. These difficulties come after a troublesome pre-season marked by significant problems during testing with their new Honda engine.
During the Bahrain pre-season tests, the AMR26 car repeatedly stalled, culminating in a shutdown on the penultimate day caused by critical faults in the Honda hybrid system. Following an investigation at Honda’s Sakura headquarters, engineers identified that vibrations from the V6 engine were damaging the battery within the hybrid system, compounding the team’s challenges.
Driver Health Compromised by Engine-Induced Vibrations
Speaking to the press ahead of the race, Newey confirmed that the vibration problem not only affects car components but also endangers the physical well-being of the drivers. The vibrations transmit through the chassis and into the driver’s hands, limiting their ability to complete extended stints behind the wheel without risking serious injury.
That vibration into the chassis is causing a few reliability problems: mirrors falling off, tail lights falling off, all that sort of thing, which we are having to address,
Newey said ahead of Sunday’s race.
He explained,
“Fernando is of the feeling that he can’t do more than 25 laps consecutively before he will risk permanent nerve damage into his hands.”
Lance is of the opinion that he can’t do more than 15 laps before that threshold.
Newey emphasized the team’s transparency regarding the issue:
“I think there is no point in not being open and honest in this meeting.”
We are going to have to be very heavily restricted on how many laps we do in the race until we get on top of the source of the vibration and improve the vibration at source.
He added that until Honda and Aston Martin resolve the root cause, race mileage will be limited for safety reasons.
It’s something that, unfortunately, (president of Honda Racing Corporation) Koji (Watanbe) and I haven’t had a chance to discuss properly prior to this meeting, but we are going to have to be very heavily restricted on how many laps we do in the race — until we get on top of the source of the vibration and improve the vibration at source,
Newey said.
Honda’s Response and Temporary Measures for Race Weekend
Koji Watanabe, president of Honda Racing Corporation, cautiously addressed the issue but refrained from detailing long-term solutions. Instead, he confirmed that engineers from HRC and Aston Martin are collaborating closely to implement short-term fixes during the Australian Grand Prix weekend.
The engineers from HRC and Aston Martin are working closely as one team to develop and evaluate the multiple countermeasures to issues highlighted during the test,
Watanabe explained.
Based on the extensive dyno testing, we will introduce the countermeasure we believe to be the most effective solution at this stage, starting this week.
Long-Term Challenges and Potential for Improvement
Despite the concerning technical setbacks and health risks to the drivers, Newey remains cautiously optimistic about Aston Martin’s potential to develop the AMR26 into a competitive car over the season. He admitted that the team is currently trailing well behind the leading contenders but believes progress is achievable with continued development.
I believe that the car has tremendous development potential in it,
Newey said.
“It will take of course a few races for us to fully realise that potential.”
Newey assessed their current position as roughly the fifth-best team, capable of qualifying towards the back of the top 10 but clearly not where they want to be at this stage of the year. He estimated the gap from the front-runners to be approximately three-quarters to one second.
He noted,
“We have an aggressive development plan in place. Already with what we have, where we have got to in the factory with that development plan, had we had time to bring it here to Melbourne, we would be significantly ahead of where we will be over the weekend.”
Given a bit of time, I see no inherent reason within the architecture of the car why we can’t become on the chassis side close to if not fully competitive.
Implications for Race Strategy and Season Outlook
This unfolding technical dilemma poses immediate challenges for Aston Martin, forcing them to limit race participation for the safety of their drivers, particularly Lance Stroll. The team’s ability to compete effectively this weekend depends heavily on the temporary solutions introduced by Honda and the team’s capacity to manage lap restrictions carefully.
If unresolved, the vibrations causing nerve damage risks could severely restrict the drivers’ performance and overall race results. However, Aston Martin’s engineering expertise and partnership with Honda aim to tackle these hurdles progressively with hopes to close the gap to the leading teams as the season advances.
An update from Adrian Newey and Koji Watanabe. #AusGP pic.twitter.com/jdqj0ujfUs
— Aston Martin Aramco F1 Team (@AstonMartinF1) March 5, 2026
