Aston, Honda stonewall as battery crisis rolls on

Mar.13 (GMM) Aston Martin and Honda refused to confirm how many batteries they have available in Shanghai ahead of this weekend’s Chinese GP, as the crisis that crippled their Melbourne campaign shows little sign of easing.

Vibration problems in the new Honda power unit damaged batteries throughout pre-season testing and early running in Melbourne, leaving the team with just two units – one per car – and no spares.

It is understood that Honda managed to repair at least one battery at its Sakura facility in the days since Melbourne, giving the team a single spare in Shanghai. But neither Aston Martin nor Honda was willing to confirm the number on Thursday.

“I don’t think we should… what’s the point of talking about battery count?” said chief trackside officer Mike Krack. “I don’t think we should keep repeating the same thing.

“This situation was brought to light last week in Melbourne and I don’t think we should continue discussing the number of batteries, if you don’t mind.”

Honda trackside general manager Shintaro Orihara offered a cautious note of progress on the vibration front, while remaining equally guarded on numbers.

“We’ve made some progress in reducing vibrations and continue to work diligently to reduce them,” said Orihara. “Reliability remains a challenge for us that needs to be addressed. We continue to actively discuss this with Aston Martin, and we have another countermeasure we may try.

“We can’t give you an exact number of batteries remaining, but we’re trying to repair the failed ones so we have more spares. Sorry, but I can’t give you an exact number.”

Lance Stroll all but confirmed the situation remained precarious. “I think it’s very fragile, the situation with the batteries,” the Canadian said.

Fernando Alonso was blunt. “We will be forced to limit laps in some sessions because we are short on parts,” he said.

Honda has already targeted its home race at Suzuka – next on the calendar – as the scene of a final resolution for the vibration crisis at least.

“Once we fix the reliability, we will be behind on power and things,” Alonso warned. “So there are two steps – and hopefully the first step will come soon.”

Meanwhile, Nico Hulkenberg was equally tight-lipped in Shanghai when asked to elaborate on the technical failure that ended his Audi’s race in Melbourne.

“No, I can’t say anything more about that. No details, sorry,” said the 38-year-old. “Of course, the team investigated it, analysed everything, took the car apart, and sent parts back to the factory to understand it.”

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