Fernando Alonso and Honda announce fresh Aston Martin target

Honda insists the "very small step" it has made in China so far this weekend is enough for the engine manufacturer to confidently target completing a full grand prix distance at the Shanghai International Circuit.

The two automotive powerhouses have endured a wretched start to their partnership, notably related to vibrations from the Honda battery that reverberated through the car.

Aston Martin team principal Adrian Newey suggested before the season-opening Australian Grand Prix that the problem was so acute that drivers Fernando Alonso and Lance Stroll could end up with nerve damage if it persisted.

At Melbourne's Albert Park, Alonso and Stroll completed 21 and 43 laps respectively before retiring. Along the way, they stopped for a couple of laps apiece for what the team described as "adjustments" to be made to the AMR26s.

In China, although both drivers were knocked out of the first segment of qualifying for the sprint and grand prix, Alonso and Stroll saw the chequered flag in the shorter race on Saturday.

Looking ahead to the Chinese GP,  Shintaro Orihara, Honda trackside general manager and chief engineer, said: "At the last event in Australia, we introduced countermeasures due to the vibration of our battery. This weekend in China, we've built up the mileage of the battery through FP1, sprint quali and the sprint race.

"Before round one, Aston Martin and Honda worked very hard to find a solution, and they introduced to the car some tuning that we did.

"Trackside, we put in a lot of effort to adjust some countermeasures, which have worked well, thanks to the hard work of the team and our mechanics, and we confirmed they are working well in the sprint, running full distance.

"It's a very small step, but an important step for Honda, and also Aston Martin.

"So tomorrow [Sunday], another 300 kilometres, and definitely our target is to complete the full distance to be more confident in our reliability. Each lap will provide us with more learning for the car and the power unit." 

Alonso, who starts the race 19th, with Stroll 21st, echoed Orihara's comments. He said: "The aim tomorrow is to do a normal race, to treat it as a normal race, and see the chequered flag with both cars.

"So not like Melbourne. We aim to finish the race normally."