Aston Martin set to DNF at F1 Australian Grand Prix as Alonso and Stroll fear nerve damage

Adrian Newey, Aston Martin, Bahrain, 2026 — Photo: © IMAGO

Aston Martin F1

Aston Martin set to DNF at Australian Grand Prix as Alonso and Stroll fear nerve damage

The shocking truth was revealed by Adrian Newey in Melbourne

Graham Shaw Consultant Editor

Digital sports specialist running global brands for 30 years

Thursday 5 March 2026 01:45 Updated: 09:48

Aston Martin are unlikely to finish Sunday's season-opening F1 Australian Grand Prix after the shocking truth about their 2026 car was revealed in Melbourne on Thursday morning.

The team, which had been expected to take a major step forward under the guidance of design genius Adrian Newey, has endured a nightmare pre-season beset by power unit issues.

Aston Martin arrived in Melbourne with speculation rampant that they would not be able to finish Sunday's race due to ongoing problems - despite working round the clock with new power unit supplier Honda to find resolutions.

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The brutal truth revealed by Aston Martin

But when Newey sat down with media at Albert Park on Thursday morning, the news was far worse than anybody could have expected. It was unprecedented.

The team principal admitted that vibrations from the Honda power unit remain an issue, and they impact the driver after transferring through the chassis.

That impact is so bad that drivers Fernando Alonso and Lance Stroll both fear permanent nerve damage should they be subjected to it for a prolonged period.

The end result is neither feels able to complete even half of Sunday's 58-lap race, with Newey revealing: “That vibration into the chassis is causing a few reliability problems: mirrors falling off, tail lights falling off, all that sort of thing, which we are having to address.

“But the much more significant problem with that is that that vibration is transmitted ultimately into the driver’s fingers.

Both drivers fear permanent nerve damage

“Fernando is of the feeling that he can’t do more than 25 laps consecutively before he will risk permanent nerve damage into his hands.

“Lance is of the opinion that he can’t do more than 15 laps before that threshold.

“We are going to have to be very heavily restricted on how many laps we do in the race until we get on top of the source of the vibration and improve the vibration at source.”

F1 HEADLINES: Newey to face the music as FIA announce Australian Grand Prix U-turn

F1 Adrian Newey Fernando Alonso Australian Grand Prix Lance Stroll