Feels like 'electrocution' - Aston Martin driver harm fears explained
The stint length-limiting vibrations of the 2026 Aston Martin-Honda are comparable to “electrocuting yourself in a chair”, according to Lance Stroll.
Aston Martin’s first pre-season with new works engine partner Honda has been blighted by the power unit triggering vibrations in the car.
That’s led to Aston Martin completing the fewest number of laps of all of the 11 teams, and team boss and managing partner Adrian Newey revealed on the eve of the Australian Grand Prix that there are fears of nerve damage for the drivers, too.
Newey said: “So Fernando is of the feeling that he can't do more than 25 laps consecutively before he will risk permanent nerve damage to his hands. Lance is of the opinion that he can't do more than 15 laps before that threshold.”
Asked to liken the feeling Newey described to something, Stroll said: “I don't know how you could compare it.
“I guess just, like, electrocute yourself in a chair or something like that and it's not far off.
“It's a very uncomfortable vibration and it's bad for the engine, but also the human inside the car.”
Stroll said “the whole car [was] just falling apart with this level of vibration” in Bahrain testing, hence the limited mileage.
He refuted any notion that his wrist injuries sustained in early 2023 - which flared up and forced him to miss the Spanish Grand Prix last year - were exacerbating the effects of the vibrations.
A numb feeling
Newey indicated Aston Martin will have no choice but to limit its race stint lengths unless its initial Australian GP fix significantly reduces the vibrations.
Alonso explained: “The vibrations coming from the engine are hurting the components in the car and the drivers - we feel them.
“We feel our body with this frequency of the vibration that you feel after 20 or 25 minutes. A little bit numb, on your hands or your feet or whatever.
“Since Bahrain, there were couple of tests done and some of the solutions are implemented on the car now. So yeah, curious to see what tomorrow we can improve and we can feel.”
Alonso played down the physical toll of the vibrations for the driver as “not painful, and not difficult to control the car”, though he did hint at a potential longer-term impact.
He added: “The adrenaline is just way higher than any pain…if we were fighting for the win we can do three hours in the car. Let's be clear.
“So I think that overcomes anything when you are on the car, you don't have a limitation that will stop you feeling what you are doing in the car, but definitely it is something that is unusual, that shouldn't be there.
“We don't know the consequences either, if you keep driving like that for months.”
Impact on Alonso’s future
Alonso says he has “100% faith” in Honda fixing the problems “because they did it already in the past” - when Honda went from three years of failure with McLaren to championship success with Red Bull.
But the 44-year-old acknowledged “the thing is probably the time that is required [for that fix], and it's not matching with my time in my career".
“That's something that remains to be seen. I don't have a crystal ball to know exactly when problems will be fixed," Alonso said.
“So yeah, we will go race by race and month by month and let's see. Hopefully, we can see improvements in the short term and that will help my decision as well for next year.”
Alonso remains convinced Aston Martin and Honda will win championships together and he remains firm in his long-term commitment.
He just doesn’t know whether he’ll still be in a driving role with the team when Honda does come good.
