Honda still looking for cause of Aston Martin vibration issues ahead of Japanese GP

Aston Martin find themselves dead last in the Constructors’ standings and are yet to finish a Grand Prix after the opening two rounds of the season, with Fernando Alonso retiring from the Chinese GP after he “began to lose all feeling” in his limbs due to extreme battery vibrations in his AMR26.

Meanwhile, Lance Stroll was not optimistic on the chances of a turnaround between China and Japan, telling media, including GPblog: “Unless they can find ⁠some magic in the next 10 days, pray. Pray for me.”

Stroll and Alonso’s woes may be set to continue in Japan. 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.”

At Suzuka, Honda’s home Grand Prix, Orihara previews another “tough” race, given the Japanese circuit’s need for energy management, and the fact Aston’s performance is “not where we want it to be.”

Meanwhile, former F1 driver David Coulthard has questioned Alonso's retirement from the Chinese GP, stating that it was to "put a spotlight on Honda".

After watching the onboard footage of Alonso lifting his hands off the AMR26’s steering wheel on the straights, the former Red Bull man is not entirely convinced of the severity of the issues the Spaniard faced.

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