Australian GP FP2: Honda sees progress with Aston Martin vibration countermeasures. Honda engineer Shintaro Orihara explains the progress made during FP2 at the 2026 Australian GP.

Honda speaks

“We are still at square one with Honda problems. We had Honda issues in FP1 and Honda issues in FP2. We arrived at this race with completely new components, a new package to test, but today we couldn’t complete enough laps,” admitted Fernando Alonso after a difficult Friday in Melbourne, which ended with the Aston Martin driver five seconds off the top of the timing sheet.

The Aston Martin driver also emphasized how frustrating it is to be short on spare parts—specifically batteries—considering the British team is the only one supplied by Honda. Adrian Newey revealed that the four batteries available at the start of the weekend are now down to just two, raising questions about whether both AMR26s will even make it to the grid on Sunday.

Shintaro Orihara comments on FP2

Shintaro Orihara, head of Honda engineers, reflected on the day and highlighted that a faint light at the end of the tunnel seems to be appearing: “Today’s FP2 sessions were valuable for us because we were able to observe the effects of our countermeasures. With Lance and Fernando completing a total of 31 laps, we managed to collect the data needed to confirm that the elements we implemented for the first time on the dynamometer in Sakura are now working on track. As a result, according to our analysis during the session, battery vibrations have decreased.”

“The day began with the identification of an issue in Fernando’s power unit. We tried to resolve it before FP1, but unfortunately we couldn’t complete the work in time. We also had a problem with Lance’s power unit and decided to bring the car back to the garage to investigate, so that we could implement the necessary changes for FP2,” Shintaro Orihara concluded.

While Fernando Alonso’s frustration highlights the severity of Aston Martin’s current reliability crisis, Honda’s technical team remains optimistic that the data from Melbourne’s FP2 validates their latest vibration-dampening fixes. As the team navigates a critical shortage of batteries, the focus shifts to whether these laboratory-tested countermeasures can survive the sustained structural stress of a full Grand Prix distance on the bumpy streets of Albert Park.