Aston Martin limit "miracle" expectations over Honda countermeasures

Aston Martin team principal Mike Krack kept his cards close to his chest when pressed on reliability upgrades brought to the Formula 1 Miami Grand Prix after a tough start to the season.

The Aston Martin and Honda partnership has found itself at the foot of the constructors' championship standings after three weekends hampered by reliability problems, primarily caused by vibrations from the Honda power unit, which transfer through the chassis and were previously said to cause a significant health risk to drivers Fernando Alonso and Lance Stroll. 

During the five-week break since the Japanese Grand Prix, Honda has kept hold of an AMR26 chassis at its Sakura base in order to run tests and implement further countermeasures, having previously brought fixes to Suzuka.

Despite hailing the collaborative effort during this period as going "really well", Krack was less forthcoming when talking about expectations for the improvements. 

“I think from that point of view, the work that we did together collaboratively, it will lead to a step forward, and I think we will have less and less restrictions going forward. If you look back to where we were in Melbourne and Shanghai, we went through all the details already about how these races went and how these races went, and I think we can clearly see progress from the reliability side and the vibration side, so I expect another step here. 

“Now, we also spoke in Suzuka that as soon as the reliability issues are mitigated, the spotlight is on performance, and we have to acknowledge that we have to do some steps there as well. 

“I also said that we cannot expect miracles coming to Miami, and this is the case.

“So, we are improving step by step, both with reliability and performance, but we mustn’t forget that the same applies to our competitors. 

“It’s a development race and as soon as the season is on, it is very tough to catch up.”

In order to protect the life of the Honda power unit, Aston Martin has previously instructed its drivers not to over-rev the engine, something which increases the distance that can be covered, but removes any opportunity to be competitive. 

Asked if further restrictions could be implemented, Krack responded: “We will not speak about the operation of the team. Sorry.”

Quizzed on the nature and scope of the countermeasures brought to Miami, Honda was equally reluctant to share details, with Honda trackside general manager and chief engineer, Shintaro Orihara, speaking only of "good progress" on the vibrations and the fixes.