Aston Martin won't finish Australian GP as Fernando Alonso raises 'nerve damage' fear

Adrian Newey has admitted Aston Martin won't finish the Australian Grand Prix with both of their driver worried about suffering nerve damage as a result of their problem-plagued car. Honda's new engines suffered significant reliability issues in pre-season testing and their problems continue as the season gets under way in Melbourne on Sunday.

Excessive vibrations were last week identified as the reason why the new power units keep breaking down. But even though some improvements have been made since Bahrain, the problem overall still persists and Aston Martin's drivers have also voiced concerns over the potential long-term effects they might suffer for being the ones behind the wheel.

Facing reporters in Melbourne on Thursday, team principal Adrian Newey conceded that neither Fernando Alonso nor Lance Stroll will be able to complete a Grand Prix until the vibrations have been significantly reduced. 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.

"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 offered a dramatic description of the issue 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 went on 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 used in the AMR26's engine this weekend, but there is still a way to go.

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 spoke to media in Melbourne but did not want to put a timeline on 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."