Aston Martin Chief Trackside Officer Mike Krack described a breakdown in team comms as a “mess,” which left Fernando Alonso stuck in the pits for 11 laps.
Alonso’s race appeared to be over after he headed to the pits in Lap 13 but the Aston was seen emerging again later on before retiring for good.
Pre-race talk of excessive vibrations meant that when Alonso’s car was seen stationary in the pits, speculation was that he was retiring in order to protect the nerves in his hands but those rumours were dispelled when he reemerged onto the Melbourne track, 11 laps down from the rest of the pack.
However, Krack has confirmed it was a “mess” of communications within the team that prompted Alonso to come in.
“The pitstop was a mess,” he said. “It was not a mess from the garage side, it was a mess from our side. The communications were basically cross-communicated. You have so many channels and sometimes things go wrong.
“One of the things that we have to acknowledge is that we have not done much and this was the first time live and it didn’t go well. So that is something that we need to go around in the future.”
As for what did cause both Aston drivers to retire, Krack said it was a lack of spare parts that prompted them to not risk it any further.
“It is common knowledge that we are not rich in any parts, and there wasn’t much to gain from where we were, and we took the decision together.”
A double retirement was about what Aston was expecting given their pre-race fears but Krack suggested the result was a little more positive and that they could have finished the race if they were not concerned about parts.
“I don’t have a crystal ball, but I’m quite confident that we could have finished,” Krack said.
For Alonso, he said he continued to struggle with vibrations and that his extra laps were to try and help the team gather more data to understand the issue.
“This is not the best feeling driving with this level of vibration,” the 44-year-old said.
“I think Honda thinks the vibrations on the battery are really reduced since Bahrain with some of the modifications, but that didn’t happen to the chassis yet because they need to isolate the battery in a different way.
“I 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.”
