Aston Martin Chief Trackside Officer Mike Krack has shut off further talk of concerns relating to its Honda power unit’s batteries, and revealed the team has a new “prime target” amid its tough start to the new Formula 1 season.
The Silverstone-based squad has endured a nightmarish opening to the season, having arrived late for Barcelona ‘shakedown week’, followed by truncated running in Bahrain, and a double-DNF in Australia.
Last week’s big takeaway was Team Principal’s Adrian Newey’s revelation that the Honda PU’s vibration throughout the car was leaving both Fernando Alonso and Lance Stroll at risk of “permanent nerve damage”.
Big improvements were evidently made between Bahrain and Melbourne, with both cars taking to the grid for the race, after rumours it had pre-planned its dual retirements.
But both Alonso and Stroll were forced to retire due to other car issues, unrelated to the health concerns Newey had previously voiced.
A shortness of batteries and their longevity were causes for concern for Aston from Bahrain, and has been an ongoing topic since.
But Krack, speaking to media including Motorsport Week in Shanghai, was quick to quash conversation on the issue.
“I think we should not… What is the point if we go on about the number of batteries?” he said.
“I don’t think that this is something that we should try to insist on. We have a situation that was disclosed in Melbourne, and I don’t think that we should continue on this battery number discussion.”
Reticent Honda insists it’s ‘working hard’ to repair ongoing Aston Martin issues
Shntaro Orihara, the Trackside General Manager for Honda Racing, was present with Krack, and offered a more detailed response on the queries on its battery issue.
“So we can’t say the exact number, but we keep trying to repair the battery to get more spares,” he said, when asked if the team still has just one battery for each of its cars.
“But sorry, I can’t say the number.
“We are trying to keep repairing the battery. We saw some good progress in terms of repairing, I can’t say detailed point, but we are keeping working hard to repair the battery.
“So maybe we can repair the battery, because that battery issue is not relating to vibration, just small things inside the battery.”
“In last event, we just focused on reducing battery vibration. So that way, we haven’t applied any counter car vibration. That is the next step after we kick the battery vibration,” he said.
“But we keep trying to understand where the vibrations are coming from.”
Krack said that the “prime target” is to now take each race as a lesson in how to improve reliability.
“I think we are in a better position than we were a week ago,” he insisted.
“As Ori-san said, our task is to continue with the learning exercise, to continue to work on reliability, because the only way that we can improve the performance is if we have a reliable car. And that has to be the prime target for now.”
There is no doubt that Aston has consistently improved since Bahrain, which bodes well. If both the Bahrain and Saudi Arabian Grands Prix are indeed cancelled, the team has respite in which to improve its woes.
But, if Krack is right, and that the improvements can only be made by learning what happens on-track, then there may still be an impatient lull before the European season commences.
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