Fernando Alonso has revealed two separate issues with his Honda-powered Aston Martin were behind his stop-start Australian Grand Prix, not the vibrations caused by the battery.<\/p>\n
That, however, does remain an issue as Honda\u2019s solutions haven\u2019t minimised the vibrations to the chassis as the battery needs to be isolated in a \u201cdifferent way\u201d.<\/p>\n
Fernando Alonso explains issues behind disrupted Australian GP<\/p>\n
Want more PlanetF1.com coverage? Add us as a preferred source on Google<\/a> to your favourites list for news you can trust<\/p>\n A difficult weekend for Aston Martin and Honda in Melbourne led to one car retiring, Alonso<\/a>, while Lance Stroll was 11 laps down.<\/p>\n Both Aston Martins spent time in the garage mid-race in an eventful afternoon for the Silverstone-based team.<\/p>\n Alonso lined up 17th with a blistering start elevating him to tenth, a position he held for the first two laps as several rival drivers struggled with their starts. However, once they got going, Alonso plummeted back to 17th.<\/p>\n The Spaniard\u2019s race appeared to be over on Lap 15 as he pulled into the Aston Martin garage only to return to the track later on, 11 laps down.<\/p>\n Aston Martin reported: \u201cThe team decided to bring Fernando back into the garage to make some adjustments to his AMR26. He has now rejoined.\u201d <\/p>\n Alonso was soon back in the pits where the team retired his car to \u201cconserve components\u201d.<\/p>\n Alonso\u2019s 11-lap break led to speculation that perhaps he had stopped to give his hands a break after he revealed in the build-up to the Melbourne race that his hands had been going a \u201clittle bit numb\u201d during testing after just 25 minutes of driving the car.<\/p>\n Instead, the double World Champion said it was an issue with the car that forced him to make his initial stop before another issue emerged after he had rejoined the action.<\/p>\n More from the Australian Grand Prix<\/p>\n Oscar Piastri reveals \u2018not insignificant\u2019 factor behind heartbreaking Australian GP crash<\/a><\/p>\n Charles Leclerc says \u2018cheeky\u2019 lights-out helped Ferrari lightning start in Melbourne<\/a><\/p>\n \u201cDefinitely, I think the start and the first two laps were the most enjoyable part of the race,\u201d Alonso told PlanetF1.com and other accredited media of his Sunday in Melbourne.<\/p>\n \u201cI mean, P10 for two laps was unexpected but I think the start is not our problem. While everyone else was struggling for the boost or whatever they have, for us it was a clean first lap.<\/p>\n \u201cObviously completely out of position in P10 so I fell back to P17 and then we had a small issue on data that we had to stop the car. <\/p>\n \u201cWe thought we\u2019d repaired it and then we went back out again, and I think another issue appeared so we had to stop the car for a second time.\u201d<\/p>\n But the vibrations remain an issue.<\/p>\n Admitting the vibrations were \u2018similar to Bahrain\u2019, Alonso said the feeling inside the car was the same.<\/p>\n \u201cThis is not the best feeling driving with this level of vibration,\u201d the 44-year-old continued. <\/p>\n \u201cI think Honda thinks the vibrations on the battery are really reduced since Bahrain with some of the modifications, but that didn\u2019t happen to the chassis yet because they need to isolate the battery in a different way.<\/p>\n \u201cI think it will take a little bit more time but we try to do our best and to do as many laps as possible to help the team.\u201d<\/p>\n Asked whether he\u2019s expecting the situation to be any different at next weekend\u2019s Chinese Grand Prix, he replied: \u201cNo different, we have the same car, the same power unit next weekend. So I expect another tough weekend.<\/p>\n \u201cBut meanwhile we cannot give up, we need to keep trying different solutions, especially with the chassis, try to understand and get better. In the package in general, I think we are not optimised in anything yet because of the lack of mileage. So China will be another good opportunity.\u201d<\/p>\n Additional reporting by Mat Coch<\/p>\n Want to be the first to know exclusive information from the F1 paddock? Join our broadcast channel on WhatsApp<\/a> to get the scoop on the latest developments from our team of accredited journalists.<\/p>\n You can also subscribe to the PlanetF1 YouTube channel<\/a> for exclusive features, hear from our paddock journalists with stories from the heart of Formula 1 and much more!<\/p>\n