When first real Honda fix may come as more countermeasures added

Honda has introduced a further reliability countermeasure for this weekend’s Japanese Grand Prix with a more permanent fix potentially coming at Formula 1’s next race in Miami.

The Honda-powered Aston Martin cars have not been classified in either of the opening grands prix as Lance Stroll finished 15 laps down in the Australia season opener then both he and Fernando Alonso retired in China.

Honda’s engine has been beset by reliability problems as serious engine vibrations initially damaged batteries beyond repair and then left the team without any spares during the opening race weekends.

Some progress has been made in mitigating the vibrations being suffered by the battery and a separate battery issue is understood to have caused Stroll’s China retirement.

But as illustrated by Alonso stopping shortly after mid-distance in China due to discomfort from the vibrations, Aston Martin and Honda have not yet been able to improve what is being transmitted through the chassis to the drivers.

Reliability has been the first-order priority in the opening weeks and after identifying the cause of Stroll’s non-finish further, short-term changes are understood to have been made for the Japanese GP.

Honda will not say what the change is, or what happened, but trackside leader Shintaro Orihara was adamant it “fully understands” what went wrong. Likewise he would not confirm its battery stock for Suzuka but said Honda is now “confident” in that area, which indicates it has replenished spares as well as validated that this specific vibration problem is more under control.

Asked by The Race if that was still a potential race-ending issue, Orihara said: “From a battery reliability viewpoint, we have made good progress through round one and round two.

“So we are confident to finish the race.”

What remains unclear, though, is whether the drivers will be comfortable enough to do that, as Stroll claimed on Thursday at Suzuka the vibrations they feel in the car mean he thinks they can only put up with half a race distance.

Alonso’s retirement came just after that point in China, though, and was driven by the futility of continuing as he was already a lap down and running last. He and the team have indicated that it could have been persevered with were it worthwhile - ie scoring a competitive result.

What could help in Japan is a potential mitigation on the car side. Aston Martin chief trackside officer Mike Krack said the team will test something at Suzuka that will impact “the driver’s side” of the vibrations. This is a car-related experiment and they have reported feeling the vibrations though the steering wheel, although the team will not confirm what is being adjusted.

In terms of a longer-term, better fix across the board, the April-long gap without a race means there appears to be a real chance Honda will bring a first specification change for reliability for the Miami GP at the start of May.

Performance upgrades are not permitted outside of what the FIA grants a manufacturer based on F1’s new ‘additional development and upgrade opportunities’ system but reliability changes can be made separately to that, with FIA permission.

It has not been possible to do that in the weeks since the Bahrain test as meaningful changes require a long lead time to validate for reliability purposes.

Even Miami could be a stretch but it depends on the extent of the change.

Orihara confirmed that “if we need it, we can” introduce an upgrade and when asked by The Race if it has not got to that stage yet he replied: “Difficult to say at this moment, we will see in Miami.”

The April gap should also be a significant window for Aston Martin and Honda to evaluate what more needs to be done - and on what timescale - to improve the vibrations suffered by the drivers.

Alonso was seen flexing his hands repeatedly prior to his retirement in China, even letting go of the wheel with both into a braking zone at one stage.

It has been claimed by some that the FIA has taken an interest in this from a safety perspective but The Race understands it is not an active matter.

There was some minor communication during the race in China as race control observed Alonso’s radio message and actions, but Aston Martin resolved the matter itself by retiring the car.

And there is no indication that the FIA is monitoring the situation specifically or is intending to intervene in Japan, either.

Krack said handling it as a team is “a matter of respect and trust”.

“If your driver says, ‘I cannot continue’, you have to act accordingly. And we had this situation where he was in a situation of discomfort.”

Asked by The Race about the exaggerated claims the FIA was looking into it, Krack said: “We want to fix these issues in the first place; we don't have to have anyone asking us to do it.

“After China there was a review [internally], but not only for that - we had the incident where Lance stopped, so you have to review that, you review it from a technical point of view, but also operationally: how did we handle this situation?

“And I think this is good governance in each team, that you have to really do your housekeeping work.

“We did that, that is why we come up with some countermeasures here and I really hope that they are working.”