Motor racing-Optimistic to think Aston Martin could complete Chinese GP, says Alonso

MELBOURNE, March 9 (Reuters) - Fernando Alonso has cast doubt on Aston Martin getting to the chequered flag in China next weekend after a nightmare season-opener for the struggling Honda-powered Formula One team in Australia on Sunday.

Spaniard Alonso and Canadian teammate Lance Stroll both retired from the Melbourne race after problems with the power unit limited the amount of laps the drivers could do and subjected them to serious vibrations.

Team principal Adrian Newey told reporters last Thursday that the drivers risked suffering nerve damage from vibrations coming through the steering wheel if they tried to do more than 25 laps consecutively.

He also said Honda had brought four batteries to Melbourne but two had already failed, leaving only the ones in the cars.

NEW ENGINE AND CHASSIS ERA

Formula One has started a new engine and chassis era this season and Aston Martin have begun a new and exclusive partnership with Honda.

Both Alonso, a two times world champion, and Stroll returned to the Aston garages during Sunday's race before going back out again and then calling it a day.

"Today was primarily an opportunity to learn more about the AMR26. Both cars took the start and, when it became clear we could not compete for points, we chose to pit and check the cars over," said Newey.

"The team then asked Fernando to retire the car to preserve components."

Alonso recognised everyone was working hard to improve matters and said things were already better than in pre-season testing in Bahrain.

Asked whether Aston Martin might be able to do a whole race in China, the 41-year-old was less positive.

"I think that will be optimistic, but I think we can try at least," he told Sky Sports television.

"Obviously we are still short on parts into China, it's only next week, but for Bahrain apparently there will come more batteries and more stock, so (in) China we can take more risks on Sunday."

The Japanese Grand Prix at Suzuka comes after China and is Honda's home race and Alonso may have been referring to that.

The following races in Bahrain, round four, and Saudi Arabia are at risk of cancellation due to conflict in the Middle East after U.S. and Israeli attacks on Iran and that country's firing of drones and missiles in response.

Honda's Shintaro Orihara said Melbourne had been "another step in the right direction".

“This event was extremely important for us to check battery reliability," he said.

"We can see from our data that the battery vibrations have continued to decrease, and we are now confident we are on track to complete a full race distance.

"Next week in China, we are now confident to build up more mileage on the battery. We will focus on putting in the laps and gathering data to improve our performance and optimise our energy management.”