Fernando Alonso underlined the continuing issues for Honda’s Formula 1 power unit and the increased electrification of the sport’s regulations with a joke at its “battery World Championship”.
The Spaniard, along with teammate Lance Stroll, is facing an uphill struggle this year, as Aston Martin continues to patiently wait for improvements from the Japanese marque’s troublesome engine.
With reliability issues plaguing Stroll’s race early on, Alonso was forced to park his AMR26 on Lap 35 after beginning to lose feeling in both his hands and feet, due to the continuing vibration issues from the battery.
It was, therefore, another agonising double-DNF for the Silverstone-based squad, with just Honda’s home race in Suzuka left before the five-week break caused by the Bahrain and Jeddah cancellations.
This may give Honda some time to continue to resolve its ongoing problems in a scenario other than ‘on the go’, as it were, which it has been forced to do ever since the car broke cover in Barcelona in January.
One area Aston can relax about is its starts, which is producing mixed results for teams up and down the grid.
Ferrari has become the undisputed king of getaways so far, whereas Mercedes has struggled by comparison.
After the race, Alonso indicated that the AMR26 certainly has no trouble getting off the line, but joked at where it is evidently lacking, perhaps also poking fun at F1’s new electrified regulations.
“Yeah, the starts are fun,” he told media including Motorsport Week. “Same as in Australia, the car seems to start really well.
“On Lap 1, it’s true that we all have the same level of battery, which is full. Then we enter in this battery World Championship, and in that we are not as good as the others.”
Although there is a collective, and therefore educated confidence that Aston Martin’s woes will come to an end, it will surely be, if the problems persist, Alonso’s most miserable campaign yet.
With an engine causing numbness in his hands, and the rules themselves causing an underwhelment due to his old school approach, Alonso may be glad of the five-week break to put his feet up, provided he can feel them.
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