Aston Martin boss Adrian Newey has dropped a bombshell at the Australian Grand Prix, revealing drivers Fernando Alonso and Lance Stroll will not be able to finish the race due to the risk of developing permanent nerve damage.
The design genius made the stunning announcement at a press conference at Albert Park on Thursday morning, local time, after it was previously rumoured that the team would only run for a handful of laps due to severe problems with their underdone car.
Newey explained that the vibrations which have caused the cars’ Honda power unit to break down in preseason testing are so severe that Alonso and Stroll will damage their hands beyond repair if they race for too long.
‘That vibration into the chassis is causing a few reliability problems,’ Newey said. ‘Mirrors falling off, tail lights falling off – all that sort of thing, which we are having to address.’
He added: ‘It is transmitted ultimately into the drivers’ fingers. Fernando is of the feeling that he cannot do more than 25 laps consecutively before he will risk permanent damage to his hands.
‘Lance is of the opinion that he cannot do more than 15 laps before that threshold.
‘I think there is no point in not being open and honest in this meeting.
‘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.’
The Australian Grand Prix runs for 58 laps, meaning Aston Martin won’t even be able to complete half of the distance.
Stroll opened up about the horrible sensation the vibrations produce.
Asked to describe how it feels to drive the car, he said, ‘I guess just, like, electrocute yourself in a chair or something like that.
‘It’s a very uncomfortable vibration and it’s bad for the engine, but also the human inside the car.’
Earlier this week it was rumoured that Aston Martin could record a double Did Not Finish (DNF) following a nightmare preseason testing campaign in Bahrain last month due to engine and gearbox issues.
The team only completed a handful of laps as the car kept breaking down, with Honda later admitting there are serious problems with the power unit.
Those engine problems have led to a severe shortage of parts for the new car, and the team has reportedly reacted by raising the prospect of only running for the bare minimum number of laps in Melbourne.
F1 teams face heavy penalties for failing to line up for races, with the rumours pointing to Aston Martin sending their cars out for a lap or two, then retiring them.
But Newey’s stunning reveal means the problems are even worse than thought.
On Thursday, Aston Martin released another statement from the team principal, claiming that the car should improve drastically as the season goes on.
‘What we tried to concentrate on was having a good, sound architectural package,’ Newey said.
‘I think we’ve achieved that. Therefore I believe that the car has huge development potential in it.
‘It will of course take time for us to fully realise that potential. So I think it’s fair to say that here in Melbourne, we will be behind the leaders.
‘Obviously it’s not where we want to be, but with the potential to make progress and be competitive.’
Honda Racing Corporation president Koji Watanabe also released a statement on how the problems with the power unit are being tackled – and flagging the team’s inability to run the engine at full power in Melbourne.
‘Based on the extensive dyno testing, we will introduce countermeasures now that we believe to be the most effective solutions at this stage,’ he said.
‘Only once the car runs on track will we have a full understanding of whether the countermeasures are effective.
‘So, certain limitations will be applied to the power unit operation this week.’