Honda has only two batteries left for the Formula 1 Australian Grand Prix, prompting a dire update from Aston Martin Team Principal Adrian Newey, who described the situation as “scary.”
Fresh from the shock revelation that the new Honda power unit was vibrating to the point it risked nerve damage to the drivers, the situation deteriorated further on Friday.
Aston Martin confirmed an issue with the power unit prevented Fernando Alonso from running at all in FP1, while Stroll managed just three laps.
FP2 saw a modest improvement once the issues were fixed, Alonso managing 18 laps, Stroll, just 13, the drivers between four and six seconds away from session leader Oscar Piastri.
Newey detailed the scale of the challenge facing Aston Martin during the break between the sessions, confirming Honda has just two batteries left for the entire weekend in Melbourne.
“The critical point is the number of batteries,” he admitted to media, including Motorsport Week.
“We came here with four batteries, we’ve had conditioning problems with two of those batteries.
“As we sit here today, we’ve only got two operational batteries.
“Given our kind of rate of battery damage, it’s quite a scary place to be in.
Aston Martin and Honda are unsure of starting Australian GP?
Such a dramatic situation caused by Honda has led to a knock-on effect for Aston Martin – Newey could not confirm if the team has the ability to start the Austrailian GP.
“We’re hopeful that we can get through the weekend and start two cars and so on and so forth. But it’s very difficult to be concrete at the moment about that, ” he said.
Asked directly if the situation could improve by Honda shipping more batteries over from Japan, Newey delivered a sobering response.
“Unfortunately not, because there aren’t any.”
READ MORE – Oscar Piastri tops second practice at Australian GP despite disruptive session
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