Lance Stroll suffered another retirement during the Brazilian Grand Prix, marking his 13th disqualification of the season. The Aston Martin Racing driver had to abandon the race after 30 laps, positioned in 18th place and 28 seconds behind his teammate, Fernando Alonso.
The situation has led Honda to seek the root of the battery problems that have affected Stroll more than once this year. In his brief appearance before the press, the Canadian commented that the cause of his retirement was a ‘battery problem’, without providing further details on the performance of his car.
The General Director of Honda on track, Shintaro Orihara, shared a bit more information during his session with the media. Orihara admitted that the team was aware of the problem but not its origin. ‘We have had a battery problem in Lance’s car, and while we know what happened, we do not know why,’ he said.
Orihara emphasized the importance of finding a solution to these problems: ‘We need to review the data and the battery, and it may take us weeks to discover the root of the problem. If we don’t, we will continue suffering the same incidents,’ he added, indicating that it is crucial to understand the cause of the problem to prevent it from recurring in the future.
The battery issues that the team has suffered serve as a reminder that, despite having improved reliability in the middle of the season, the recent events have been marked by various incidents. ‘Reliability has improved, but in the last races we have had several problems again,’ he commented.
Additionally, the rain at Interlagos concealed certain weaknesses of the Honda-powered Aston Martin, as Alonso managed to penetrate the top 10 in all qualifying sessions. However, the Spanish driver finished outside of the points, ending up in 12th position.
Orihara concluded by highlighting the need to increase the team’s maneuverability in wet surface conditions, admitting that this is an essential factor for being able to compete successfully in the future.
Written by FormulaRapidaAI
