Aston Martin is still struggling with vibrations generated by the Honda power unit. At the 2026 Chinese Grand Prix, Fernando Alonso was forced to retire after just 30 laps because he could no longer feel his hands and feet, to the point that he had to release the steering wheel several times during the race to regain sensitivity. The physical discomfort ultimately pushed him to park the AMR26 in the garage rather than continue, as he was already in last place.
For Aston Martin, vibrations from the Honda engine remain a critical issue that must continue to be addressed with the highest priority. In Australia, the Japanese manufacturer, together with the team, introduced early modifications aimed at reducing the vibrations transmitted to the chassis, which had previously caused damage to the battery.
Despite some small improvements, the problem persists and continues to affect drivers significantly. In China, the situation became evident: Fernando Alonso had to retire because, due to excessive movement inside the cockpit, he began to lose feeling in his hands and feet after roughly twenty laps.
The vibrations were so intense that, at certain points, Alonso was even forced to take his hands off the wheel to regain sensitivity before returning to the pits and deciding to retire due to the physical pain. “I retired because today the engine vibrations were different—or rather, excessive—and around the 20th lap I started to completely lose feeling in my hands and feet,” the Asturian driver explained after the race.
Back in Australia, Aston Martin technical director Adrian Newey had already hinted that these unusual vibrations were not only a problem for the power unit but also for the drivers, estimating that discomfort would begin after just over twenty-five laps. In China, this estimate proved accurate: Alonso, who had a decent start but was fighting at the back of the field with the Cadillacs, ultimately decided to retire.
“Yes, I probably wouldn’t have been able to finish the race anyway. The level of vibrations today was extremely high. At one point, from lap 20 to lap 35, I could barely feel my hands and feet. We were being lapped, we were last. It didn’t make much sense to continue,” Fernando added, emphasizing that the vibrations in today’s race were higher than in any other session over the weekend.
It is no secret that Honda had suggested Aston Martin run with a higher fuel load to dampen vibrations, but when a car is following another closely and attempting an overtake, the engine must rev higher, creating even more intense vibrations. Qualifying sessions are one thing, where a single lap is completed and then the car slows down; a race is another, requiring continuous running under varying conditions.
In free practice sessions, only in race simulations are consecutive laps completed, usually around ten laps. This weekend, many drivers had only one session before qualifying to attempt such runs. In the Sprint race, teams managed up to 19 laps, but the Safety Car allowed drivers to recover during certain periods. Today, however, Alonso retired after 33 laps when the vibrations had become unbearable.
“Today was worse than any other session of the weekend, to be honest. Why, I don’t know. Some of the progress we had made was artificial, lowering engine RPMs and similar adjustments so that everything vibrates less. But in a race, you still need to rev the engine when overtaking or recharging, or in similar situations. As time goes on, it becomes harder,” Alonso explained.
Honda reported that they had introduced improvements in managing vibrations that previously caused battery failures inside the chassis. However, these interventions were insufficient to reduce the discomfort drivers experienced over multiple laps. Working on specific areas of the chassis where resonance had occurred is one thing; reducing the vibrations transmitted to the steering wheel and pedals over a race distance is another.
“We have improved vibration management at the system level, but it remains an issue for driver comfort. This is a key area we must address ahead of the next race in Japan,” explained Shintaro Orihara, Honda’s track operations lead.
Efforts to protect the battery were particularly critical, given Honda’s limited spare parts supply. New stock will arrive in Suzuka, but if batteries start showing problems after just a few hundred kilometers, there is a risk of losing more units than can be replaced, creating a serious reliability issue.
Considering that the engine remained unchanged from Melbourne, with no modifications, it is clear where engineers have focused their work, though it remains insufficient. Once the vibration problem is resolved, performance improvements can be explored using the ADUO system, but the primary step remains regaining reliability—a factor that already forced Lance Stroll to retire with a battery issue in China.
Leave a Reply