Aston Martin (now) is a disaster
Fernando Alonso tried as best he could, but even with three drivers without a valid time, he was eliminated in Q1 in Melbourne: at the moment Aston Martin can only compete with Cadillac to avoid the last place on the grid. However, while the Americans can set up a GP aimed at total learning of the car, Adrian Newey’s team does not have this luxury: with the reliability problems of the AMR26 and especially the Honda engine, it is unlikely the two-time world champion will finish the opening race of the championship.
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Alonso, after the Albert Park qualifying, was clear: the Japanese power unit is still giving problems, and the vibrations have not yet been resolved despite his optimism on the eve.
Alonso’s words
“The vibration problem has not been resolved, and we are missing two seconds that seem difficult to recover“, was his comment. “We know the potential of the car, but we need reliability. It will take more time to unlock the engine’s power. At the slightest anomalous data they see in the telemetry, we will have to retire to race in China“.
The decision on Stroll
Also out in Q1 was Lance Stroll, who did not even take part in qualifying due to an oil duct damaged as early as FP3. The stewards allowed the Canadian to line up on the grid for the GP, accepting the request from Aston Martin itself, which had highlighted Alonso’s time as proof that the potential of the AMR26 was within 107%.
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