Aston Martin shut down battery talk for Fernando Alonso and Lance Stroll in China
Fernando Alonso was in the pit for 11 laps before returning onto the track.
Aston Martin and Honda have refused to reveal how many batteries Fernando Alonso and Lance Stroll have available for the Chinese Grand Prix after the vibration issues that plagued the team in Melbourne.
The battery for Aston Martin’s Honda power unit has been one of the hot topics for the team in the first few months of 2026 as vibrations coming from the battery has curtailed the team’s running as it’s affecting not only the car, but also the drivers.
Fernando Alonso and Lance Stroll battery situation unclear before Chinese Grand Prix
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So much so, team principal Adrian Newey warned of long-lasting consequences for Alonso and Stroll.
“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 told PlanetF1.com and other accredited media in Albert Park.
“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.”
It was a startling and unexpected warning from the design guru, who revealed Aston Martin would most likely limit its running throughout the Australian Grand Prix.
However, losing one battery for Alonso’s car even before FP1 and then another for Stroll on the Friday, it wasn’t just the battery vibrations that hampered Aston Martin, it was that it had just two per car for the entire weekend.
“We are short on batteries,” Newey revealed. “We’ve only got two batteries left, the two that are in the car. So we lose one of those, then it’s obviously a big problem.”
A problem that could carry over into the Chinese Grand Prix, the second race in the season-opening double-header.
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With just four off days between the Australian Grand Prix and FP1 in Shanghai, time is not on Aston Martin’s or Honda’s side.
However, Aston Martin’s chief trackside officer Krack would not be drawn on the situation.
“I think we should not… What is the point if we go on about the number of batteries?” he told the media ahead of the Chinese Grand Prix.
“I don’t think that this is something that we should try to insist on. We have a situation that was disclosed in Melbourne, and I don’t think that we should continue on this battery number discussion.”
Honda’s trackside general manager and chief engineer Shintaro Orihara was a bit more forthcoming on the matter as he revealed Honda is trying to repair the batteries lost at the Australian Grand Prix.
But whether Aston Martin still only has access to the one that was in each car during Sunday’s Australian Grand Prix, he would not say.
“So we can’t say the exact number, but we keep trying to repair the battery to get more spares,” he said. “But sorry, I can’t say the number.
“We are trying to keep repairing the battery. We saw some good progress in terms of repairing, I can’t say detailed point, but we are keeping working hard to repair the battery.
“So maybe we can repair the battery, because that battery issue is not relating to vibration, just small things inside the battery.”
This season teams are limited to three batteries, Energy Stores, before penalties are applied. If Alonso and Stroll’s first batteries from Melbourne are not available in the pool, that puts both drivers heading towards a grid drop.
Orihara revealed Honda is still working on reducing the battery vibrations that have hampered Aston Martin.
“In last event, we just focused on reducing battery vibration. So that way, we haven’t applied any counter car vibration. That is the next step after we kick the battery vibration.
“But we keep trying to understand where the vibrations are coming from.”
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