Yesterday, Shintaro Orihara, Honda’s trackside general manager and chief engineer, provided an update on the progress made with Aston Martin’s battery issues ahead of the Japanese Grand Prix.

Aston Martin are yet to finish a Grand Prix after the opening two rounds of the season, as Fernando Alonso retired from the Chinese GP after he “began to lose all feeling” in his limbs due to extreme battery vibrations in his AMR26.

Despite Orihara reporting “some progress” in reducing the vibrations, the Honda boss admitted they are still to find the cause of the issue.

In a statement, Orihara said: "In China, we made some progress in terms of battery reliability thanks to a reduction in the vibration affecting the systems, but we must find more solutions to establish the cause of the vibrations affecting the drivers.”

Elsewhere, GPblog could report the latest on Audi's team principal situation after Jonathan Wheatley's shock departure.

Audi's COO and CEO Mattia Binotto immediately stepped in as the replacement for the former Red Bull man.

However, GPblog understands that this is not set to be a permanent appointment, as Binotto ultimately wants to fully refocus on leading the broader Audi project.

GPblog can also report that no internal timeframe has been set at at the German manufacturer, so it remains unclear how long Binotto will carry out the team principal role.

The Swiss-Italian will be in Japan this coming weekend, where he will speak with the international press after the Grand Prix.

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