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Adrian Newey has admitted that Aston Martin have not made “any progress” in their efforts to improve their chassis and resolve the vibration issues from Honda’s engine.
Newey raised eyebrows at Albert Park on Thursday, as the Aston Martin chief addressed the torrid time they faced owing to Honda’s battery repeatedly failing during pre-season testing in Bahrain. No team completed fewer laps in the Sakhir desert than Aston Martin registered.
Team principal and managing technical partner Newey even admitted ahead of the 2026 F1 season-opening Australian Grand Prix that Fernando Alonso and Lance Stroll think they can only complete 25 and 15 consecutive laps before they would risk permanent nerve damage.
Honda have identified since pre-season testing in Bahrain that excessive vibrations caused by their V6 internal combustion engine (ICE) caused their battery to fail in the AMR26. But while a fix has been found for the battery, Aston Martin still need to work on their chassis.
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Newey revealed on Thursday in Melbourne that the vibrations from Honda’s engine are also passing through Aston Martin’s chassis and transmitted to drivers Alonso and Stroll through the steering wheel. Yet Aston Martin have not made “any progress” on fixing their chassis.
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Aston Martin have helped Honda to design a solution for their battery that will be used this weekend at the Australian GP. But the Silverstone natives still need to work on their chassis, as the vibrations are literally shaking the mirrors and tail lights off the Aston Martin AMR26.
Newey said in a press conference at Albert Park: “The important thing to understand is that the battery is the thing that we have been focusing on because that’s the critical item.
“Without giving away any technical details, what we have achieved for this weekend, it [was] tested on the dyno, over the course of the weekend, and got to the solution that we proposed, which we will be using here in Melbourne.
“That has successfully, significantly reduced the vibration going into the battery. But what is important to remember is effectively the PU, i.e. the combination of the ICE and possibly the MGU as well, is the source of the vibration. It’s the amplifier.
“The chassis is, in that scenario, the receiver. A carbon chassis is a naturally stiff structure with very little damping. So, the transmission of that vibration into the chassis, we haven’t made any progress on.
“So, that vibration into the chassis is causing a few reliability problems. Mirrors falling off, taillights falling off, all that sort of thing, which we are having to address.”
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Honda’s engine shaking to the extent that parts are “falling off” the AMR26 and causing the battery to fail is not Aston Martin’s only problem. There are even claims that Aston Martin’s chassis for the 2026 F1 regulations is underdeveloped, after Newey made them begin again.
Newey only joining Aston Martin in March last year, after finishing his gardening leave after leaving Red Bull in 2024, instantly put the Silverstone natives behind schedule. But to make things worse, Newey made Aston Martin start designing their 2026 car again with his ideas.
So, while Newey has sarcastically hit out at Honda’s engine in private following their woes during testing, the F1 design icon cannot hide from the fact that his first Aston Martin has major problems they need to address once Honda’s engine lets them complete more laps.
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