Gary Anderson urges the FIA to ‘step in’ as Honda’s theory for Aston Martin vibrations is not viable

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Gary Anderson thinks the FIA are not showing enough concern about Aston Martin and Honda’s vibration issue.

Ahead of the Japanese Grand Prix this weekend, a joint press conference was held by Honda and Aston Martin, where Honda officials admitted they can’t improve the engine issues yet.

The situation between the two parties has grown somewhat tense, with Aston Martin not knowing about Red Bull’s struggles with Honda last year.

Have Aston Martin already ‘completely ruined’ their relationship with Honda?

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Adrian Newey blaming Honda for their issues certainly didn’t help matters, as the two sides’ relationship suffered during a stressful time when they needed to be working together.

However, former F1 technical director Gary Anderson believes their hard work could be moot if the FIA looks into the vibration issues suffered by Fernando Alonso in Shanghai.

READ MORE: David Coulthard accuses Fernando Alonso of exaggerating issues to ‘put the spotlight’ on Honda

Gary Anderson believes FIA must intervene if Aston Martin vibration issue affects driver health

Gary Anderson spoke on The Race F1 Tech podcast, where he discussed the issues Aston Martin are currently facing with their power unit and the vibrations it is apparently causing.

Anderson believes that the FIA should take some action if these vibrations are potentially damaging the health of the drivers, similar to how they did in the past.

“The pressure is on Honda, the pressure is on Aston Martin to show that they’ve made a step in some direction. But one of the things that we don’t really know is the reality of the problem.

“We hear about the vibrations and the drivers’ nervous system, shaking their hands and feet. Alonso, during the last race, having to retire because of that. If that is real, then somebody has to step in.

“When we had the porpoising with the ground effect cars, the FIA made teams put sensors on the car to monitor it.

“If the G-levels the drivers were felt to be too high, then they were going to do something about it. That’s sort of the solve now.

“It’s still a reality. If these levels of vibrations are enough to interfere with a driver’s health, then the FIA needs to step in and say, ‘Excuse me, this is the limit here, health-wise. If you’re within that somehow, where is that vibration coming from?’”

READ MORE: David Coulthard says Aston Martin appointing Adrian Newey turned out to be a ‘PR own goal’

Gary Anderson ‘doesn’t see’ how Honda’s theory behind Aston Martin’s vibration issue is viable

Speaking further about the vibration issue, Anderson rubbished the idea Honda put forth that Aston Martin’s gearbox is the cause of the intensity of the vibration.

“We hear it’s engine vibration, we hear Honda saying it could be from the gearbox. Who knows. We don’t really know. But if it’s a high enough frequency of vibration to hurt the driver’s nervous system, then I would say it’s something that’s moving at a high speed.

“I don’t see how it’s the gearbox personally. That would be a very low-frequency vibration. I don’t really see how it could be the actual engine structure itself.

“The things that are going at a hell of a rate is the MGU-K and the Turbo. There’s maybe something there, maybe in the way that they’re mounted, that’s passing out vibrations through the car.”

Whatever the cause of the issue may be, it is up to both Honda and Aston Martin to work together to address this issue and ensure it doesn’t become a problem for the entire season.