Fernando Alonso explained how a worsening of the vibrations caused by Honda’s Formula 1 power unit contributed to another Grand Prix retirement in China.
The Spaniard was unable to complete the race at the Shanghai International Circuit, ensuring a second double-DNF for Aston Martin, with Lance Stroll crawling to a stop early in the race due to a malfunctioning PU battery.
For Alonso, there were signs of encouragement, as a lightening start saw him briefly lying in the points-paying positions, before inevitably falling back through the order.
He lasted 35 laps before needing to permanently box his AMR26, due to vibrations coming from the battery, a problem outlined by Team Principal Adrian Newey last week in Australia.
Onboard footage later emerged of Alonso having to release his hands from the wheel and shake them in a desperate bid to try and get some feeling back in them.
Speaking after the race, Alonso detailed the problem, saying how the issue also reached his feet, too, and given he was running at the back of the field, the sensible option was to retire.
“My vibrations level were very high today,” the two-time World Champion told media, including Motorsport Week. “At one point, from lap 20 to 35, I was struggling a little bit to feel my hands and my feet
“And we were one lap behind, we were last, and there was probably no point to keep on going.”
Fernando Alonso admits lowering revs to preserve feeling in his hands in Aston Martin
Alonso confirmed that, despite lasting 10 laps longer than Newey stated he could, the problem was worse than ever, but could not explain why.
“Yeah, it was worse today than any other session in the weekend, to be honest,” he said. “For whatever reason, I don’t know.”
“And then, yeah, some of the steps we did were achieved artificially. I mean, just lowering the RPM of the engine and things like that, so everything vibrates less.
“But in the race, obviously, you still need to go high in some of the RPM when you make an overtake move, or when you have to recharge, or something like that.
“So, yeah, obviously, over time, it’s more difficult, it’s more demanding.”
It’s a noble feat for Alonso to try and drive for as long as he can in this beleagured car, and no doubt some of it will be to try and boost morale as much as he can.
With the Middle East races now officially cancelled, the post-Japanese Grand Prix break might give Aston the on-track respite it needs to continue its off-track enforcement of Honda improvements.
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