Aston Martin deny 'peace' handshake with Honda

Aston Martin chief trackside officer Mike Krack has denied the handshake between Lawrence Stroll and Koji Watanabe on the grid in Japan was a “peace” offering.

Prior to the start of the race, the two heads of the Aston Martin and Honda projects were photographed shaking hands.

It came amid a highly challenging start to the year for the team as it competes with a car that is both unreliable and uncompetitive.

The third round of the season last weekend in Japan marked Honda's home event, and in the build-up to the race, Stroll and Watanabe posed for a photograph while shaking hands.

But Krack asserted it was not a moment to show the world that the parties were burying the hatchet of any early-season tensions.

“There was no need to make peace, because we have a good relationship,” Krack told media including RacingNews365.

“We came here, we know that this was the home race of our partner.

“We have a lot of respect for Honda, and we have seen how much work went into the issues we are having.

“It was also a matter of respect for us to try everything we can to finish the race.

“We discussed that before, as we discussed over the week and over next week and so on.

“So there is no need to make peace, because there are no issues.”

Honda's home race was a challenging one - after both Aston Martin cars lined up on the back of the grid, Lance Stroll was forced to retire with an issue.

However, Fernando Alonso managed to make it to the end of the race, marking the first time this year an Aston Martin car has done so.