Aston Martin suffer latest setback in Honda saga

Aston Martin has confirmed that work on the Honda power unit in Lance Stroll's car will delay his running in FP3 at the Australian Grand Prix, even with the session starting late.

It comes during a dismal opening weekend of the F1 season for the Silverstone-based squad as it battles to remedy the serious issues it is facing at the start of its works partnership with the Japanese car giant.

Both Stroll and team-mate Fernando Alonso have endured reduced track action in Melbourne, and team principal Adrian Newey has stated that there are no spare batteries for their power units.

Specifically, intense vibrations in the AMR26 are causing damage to that element, and Newey even conceded that the drivers could face "permanent nerve damage" if they do too many laps, something that will lead to "very heavily restricted" running during the race at Albert Park.

That, however, requires both drivers to qualify, something that is far from certain. The car is significantly off the pace, and there is no guarantee the FIA permits either to compete if they fall outside the 107% pole time threshold.

If they do, Alonso has estimated he can do up to 25 laps, whilst Stroll has claimed it is closer to 15.

As for FP3, the team said that work on the latter's power unit led to a delay in rebuilding his car.