Honda has adopted a slightly more positive stance regarding Aston Martin’s vibration problems at the start of Formula 1 2026. Shintaro Orihara, track manager and chief engineer of the Japanese brand, confirmed that the team already has the chassis with fewer vibrations according to the new data.
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At the start of this weekend’s Australian GP, Adrian Newey adopted a quite worrying discourse. The designer and team boss pointed out how there are vibrations that make it impossible for drivers to complete many laps with the car, in addition to the lack of extra batteries in case those in the car have problems.
But after two free practice sessions in Melbourne, and quite complicated ones where Fernando Alonso did not run in FP1 and Lance Stroll completed only three laps in the first session, Orihara is more optimistic.
“Today’s FP2 was valuable for us, as we could see the effects of our countermeasures. With Lance and Fernando completing a total of 31 laps, we were able to collect the necessary data to determine that the items we first implemented on the HRC Sakura dyno are working on track. As a result, there are fewer battery vibrations, according to our analysis collected during the session,” he said.
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However, the Honda boss reflected more deeply on the difficulties of Friday’s practice, explaining more about the problems faced by Alonso and Stroll.
“Today started with the identification of a problem in the power unit of Fernando’s car. We tried to correct this before the start of FP1, but unfortunately we were unable to complete the work in time. Therefore, the decision was made that car #14 would sit out the session while work on the power unit continued. Also we had a problem with Lance’s power unit and decided to stop in the pits to investigate, which allowed us to make the changes for FP2,” he concluded.
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