Fernando Alonso and Lance Stroll have raised concerns about potential permanent nerve damage from excessive vibrations in their Aston Martin cars
Adrian Newey has admitted Aston Martin won’t complete the Australian Grand Prix with both of their drivers concerned about suffering nerve damage due to their trouble-ridden car. Honda’s fresh engines encountered major reliability problems during pre-season testing and their difficulties continue ahead of the season-opener in Melbourne this weekend.
Extreme vibrations were identified last week as the cause behind the new power units keep failing. However, despite some improvements being implemented since Bahrain, the issue fundamentally remains and Aston Martin’s drivers have also expressed worries regarding the potential long-term consequences they might endure from being behind the wheel.
Speaking to journalists in Melbourne on Thursday, team principal Newey acknowledged that neither Fernando Alonso nor Lance Stroll will manage to finish a Grand Prix until the vibrations are substantially minimised. He said: “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.
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“But the much more significant problem with that is that that vibration is transmitted ultimately into the driver’s fingers. 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.”
Stroll himself provided a vivid account of the problem as he said: “I don’t know how you could compare it. I guess like you electrocute yourself on a chair or something like that, it’s not far off. It’s a very uncomfortable vibration. It’s bad for the engine, but also for the human inside the car. We need to get on top of it. I think we will.”
Newey continued to add: “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 also confirmed an improvement that has been tested and approved on Honda’s dyno in Sakura, Japan, will be utilised in the AMR26’s engine this weekend, though there remains considerable work ahead.
Newey added: “What is important to remember is, effectively, the PU, the combination of the ICE and possibly the MGU as well, is the source of the vibration. It’s the amplifier. The chassis is, in that scenario, the receiver. A chassis, a carbon chassis, is a naturally stiff structure with very little damping, so the transmission of that vibration into the chassis, we haven’t made any progress on.”
Honda Racing president Koji Watanabe also addressed the media in Melbourne but refrained from setting a timeline for their improvement plans. He said: “I want to hurry up but, at this moment, it’s quite difficult to say when and how. Further measures are already under consideration. So we are not able to share technical detail, so we ask for your patience as we continue working toward full performance.”
Reacting to Aston Martin’s troubles, one fan was left unimpressed, saying: “Newey building the worst car imaginable for Aston Martin is literally karma.”
Another said: “So you’re telling me Adrian Newey went to Aston Martin and become technical director/ team principal/ co-owner, gets paid MILLIONS, wrote a book called how to build a car and has whipped up a vehicle that causes nerve damage.”