The Aston Martin team was the only team in Australia that could not have any of its drivers reach the finish line. Both Fernando Alonso and Lance Stroll retired, but not without, in the words of the team itself, extracting valuable ‘data and learnings’ from the Grand Prix. Aston Martin hopes to enter the Chinese Grand Prix weekend better prepared, although Alonso still wonders if he will be able to finish a race in Shanghai: ‘I think it will take a while’.
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It was a striking moment during the Australian Grand Prix: the return of Fernando Alonso to the track, after Aston Martin had previously pulled the Spaniard out of the race. In lap 32, however, the Aston Martin driver retired again, and subsequently did not finish the Grand Prix. Team principal Adrian Newey explains why Alonso was pulled from the race.
“Today was primarily an opportunity for us to learn more about the AMR26,” Newey says in an official statement from Aston Martin. “Both cars participated in the race start, and as soon as it became clear that we could not compete for World Championship points, we chose to make a pit stop and check what was going on with the cars. The team then asked Fernando to retire the car to save parts. The data and the learnings we can draw from this weekend will help us during the next event (GP China, ed.).”
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Nerves
Earlier, Newey already mentioned that there was a risk of ‘nerve damage’ in the hands of drivers Alonso and Lance Stroll after ’15 to 25 laps’. The Spaniard definitively stopped the race in Melbourne on lap 21, and afterwards spoke about how his hands were doing. “It’s similar to Bahrain, and it’s not the best feeling with so many vibrations,” Alonso told the media. “I think Honda believes the vibrations from the battery have decreased since Bahrain, thanks to some adjustments, but that hasn’t happened yet with the chassis, because they need to insulate the battery in a different way. So I think it will take a while, but we will do our best in China and drive as many laps as possible to help the team.”
Despite Alonso not being sure yet if he can finish the Grand Prix in Shanghai because of this, he remains hopeful. “It won’t be any different, so I expect another tough weekend, but we must not give up,” the two-time world champion continues. “We must keep trying different solutions, especially on the chassis, to improve the package, because we are not optimizing anything. China is therefore another good opportunity.”
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Read everything about the Australian GP here
