This years racing car is so bad the drivers are losing feeling in their hands and feet.
The Aston Martin Formula One team have been struggling this season and have yet to finish a race. The car is one massive vibrator which was not expected considering you have Adrian Newey the top Formula One designer in history as your team leader and chief engineer. This can happen especially when cars change due to new regulations and these cars are not even close to last seasons cars so you cannot just copy what you had previously.
The problem began last year when Adrian Newey could only come on board from the 1st March which gave the team less than 12 months to design and build a new car under the new regulations. He had left Red Bull and due to contractual obligations had to serve a 12 month ban from working for another team. In an ideal world the car would have already been 3- 6 months into development so the team was already playing catch up.
What one has to remember is each car that is built is basically built from scratch so every single component including screws and bolts is built in house with the exception of the floor which they can outsource from another team. Engines or the power unit can also be acquired from other teams, but the rest of the car is built by the team in house. No one knows what they really have until they get to the completed stage and only then can they do the various tests. Things are really bad as the drivers aren't even able to complete a simulation test so the problems are that serious.
When Adrian Newey was at Red Bull Formula One they were supplied power units from Honda who helped the team win the Formula One Constructors Championship. Honda announced they were exiting Formula One before an about turn at the last minute stating they were coming on board with Aston Martin. Great news for the Aston Martin team you would have thought until the Aston Martin management visited Japan late last year only to find out they had big problems.
The Honda engine team was not the same experienced team they once had as many of the original team had left because of the engine/power unit announcement of being shut down. These engineers would have been snatched up by other teams because this is a once in a life time opportunity to grab the best in the business. There would have been no problems if Honda had kept the original team together and that is what Aston Martin had thought as well.
The Honda engine was struggling with performance and was not achieving the power out put expected plus they were working through some vibration issues. Those vibration issues are still present today and are so bad that they could cause nerve damage to the drivers. Fernando Alonso in China had to retire after 12 laps due to not being able to feel his hands and feet anymore which shows how serious this problem is.
Many questioned when Adrian Newey was announced as the team principal because he is a hands on engineer/designer and those fears have surfaced again. Newey is a share holder and key member of the teams leadership and right now he is required to fix the design issues and help with the engine stability. The rest of what the team is doing needs to be handled by someone else and there are rumors they pinched Jonathon Wheatley from the Audi team who is expected to be made the new team principal.
The Aston Martin car can be worked on and should improve performance rapidly however the biggest problem the team is facing is the engine. Honda will get it right as that is what the Japanese do as they are known to be perfectionists. Will the team have a car that can compete knowing they have a 3 week break gifted to them due to the Middle East crisis and somehow get back on track with their performances.
Aston Martin when they announced they had Newey onboard last year were expected to be challenging the leaders with in a season or two and I do think that is still a realistic target. The engine/power unit problems are a major set back and who knows how long this will take to fix and if it can even be fixed in time this year or do they go back to the Mercedes engine at some point.