Aston Martin ends its vibration crisis, but gearbox gremlins emerge as the next urgent fix

Aston Martin finally banished its most debilitating early‑season problem in Miami. After three race weekends dominated by severe power‑unit‑induced vibrations — issues that compromised performance, reliability, and even driver comfort — the team arrived at the Miami Grand Prix with a set of countermeasures developed jointly with Honda during the five‑week break after Suzuka.

The result was immediate. The violent oscillations that had plagued the AMR26 were not just reduced — they were eliminated. As Fernando Alonso put it after qualifying: “Gone. I would say gone.”

For the first time in 2026, Aston Martin got both cars to the chequered flag, a milestone that had begun to feel elusive. But while the vibration crisis is over, the team’s path forward is far from smooth. With one major problem solved, another has now surfaced.

Alonso revealed that although the car was finally drivable again, the gearbox became the next limiting factor.

“It’s the electronics or something. It was very weird on the downshifts and the upshifts. So not very well in control. That’s the fix number one for Canada I think, with all the heavy braking.”

The Spaniard’s comments underline the urgency: Montreal’s stop‑start layout will punish any instability in shift behaviour. Aston Martin cannot afford another weekend of firefighting.

On Sunday, Alonso finished 15th after stretching his first stint in the hope of a late Safety Car. Once on soft tyres, he showed flashes of his usual aggression, but the AMR26 still lacked the pace to fight for points.

“It’s good to have both cars finish the race for the first time this season. We are still not where we want to be, but this weekend has allowed us to collect more data which we can analyse over the next few weeks before Canada.

"We have made clear progress in reliability, now our focus turns to performance. We need to keep working and be patient as a team," the Spaniard noted.

Lance Stroll, who finished 17th after two pit stops, echoed the relief at finally completing a race distance.

“It’s the first time this season both cars finished a race, so that’s a positive to take from Miami. We managed to get more mileage in the car and experienced less vibrations this weekend.

"In hindsight, our tyre strategy didn’t work out but from a reliability perspective we made a step in the right direction. We now need to work on our performance related issues, there are lots of areas for us to improve on.”

Chief Trackside Officer Mike Krack confirmed that the team’s primary focus during the break was eliminating the power‑unit vibrations — and that the collaboration with Honda paid off.

“Our focus over the break was to work with Honda to improve the PU’s vibrations into the chassis — that work has paid off and we have taken an important step forward on reliability this weekend.

"Whilst that is a positive, there’s clearly more we need to do together to improve our pace and unlock the potential of this package," Krack concluded.