Aston Martin shutdown battery question in availability concern

Aston Martin chief trackside officer Mike Krack shut down questions ahead of this weekend's Chinese Grand Prix surrounding the availability of Honda's batteries.

An element within the battery designed by Honda has caused major vibrations throughout the chassis of the AMR26, to the extent that team principal Adrian Newey revealed in Australia that it was putting Lance Stroll and Fernando Alonso at risk of permanent nerve damage.

Both drivers experienced limited running across the season-opener due to a lack of parts and power unit issues, which look set to continue in Shanghai due to the fast turnaround.

Despite the minimal time between Melbourne and this weekend's action at the Shanghai International Circuit, the Silverstone-based outfit does have a further potential fix to trial.

According to Honda's trackside general manager Shintaro Orihara, progress has been made in solving the battery vibrations issue, with "another countermeasure" potentially set to be tested, although this is not to fix the specific problem causing the car vibration issue.

"So, we have found some progress on the vibrations, and we are continuing to work hard to reduce them," said Orihara to select media, including RacingNews365. "Reliability is still our, how to say, challenging point to improve.

"So we are still working hard in dialogue with Aston Martin, and we have another countermeasure that we might try.

"We also accumulated mileage in Australia, so we learned something from the last event regarding drivability and energy management. We have implemented that learning into our simulation system, and maybe we will find some progress at this event.

"That is the main focus point for this event and the main learning from the last event."

Honda battery availability remains unclear

A major issue for Aston Martin last weekend was battery availability, with no spares available going into qualifying due to issues, as revealed by Newey.

Heading into this weekend, it remains unclear whether Honda has managed to bring any spare batteries for Stroll and Alonso, but it is attempting to carry out repairs.

When asked how many batteries Aston Martin has this weekend, Orihara replied: "So we can't say the exact number, but we are trying to repair the batteries to have more spares. Sorry, but I can't say the number."

The availability of Honda's batteries is a significant talking point in the paddock, particularly whether the team is limited to just the battery currently in each car. However, Krack was keen to put a stop to the discussion surrounding the batteries.

Pushed by RacingNews365 if Aston Martin has more than two batteries available, Krack insisted: "I think we should not... what is the point of going on about the number of batteries?

"I don't think this is something that we should insist on, insist on and insist on. We have a situation that was disclosed in Melbourne, and I don't think that we should continue this discussion about the number of batteries, if you allow."