Aston Martin arrived in Melbourne hoping to begin the new Formula 1 season on a positive note. Instead, the team has found itself dealing with multiple technical issues before the race weekend has properly begun.

Among the problems is the situation with the Honda power-unit batteries. Aston Martin brought four units to Australia for the race weekend, but two of them have since been found to have issues, leaving the team with only two usable batteries

"The critical point is the number of batteries.We came here with four batteries. We've had conditioning problems or communication problems with two of those batteries, which means we've, as we sit here today, only got two operational batteries. That, given our kind of rate of battery damage, is quite a scary place to be in. Obviously we're hopeful that we can get through the weekend and start two cars and so on and so forth, but it's very difficult to be concrete at the moment about that," said the team principal Adrian Newey, as quoted by ESPN.

The issue compounds an already difficult situation for the team. On Thursday, Aston Martin revealed that severe vibrations caused by the Honda power unit are not only affecting reliability but could also pose a physical risk to drivers Fernando Alonso and Lance Stroll if they complete long runs in the car.

The lack of available spare batteries has therefore become an additional factor the team must carefully manage throughout the weekend.

"I think realistically it's just trying to manage the problem. We are short on batteries. We've only got two batteries left, the two that are in the car. So we lose one of those, then it's obviously a big problem. So we've got to be very careful on how we use the batteries," Newey added.

The problems were already visible during the first practice session in Melbourne. Alonso did not take part due to a power unit issue, while Stroll managed only a handful of laps before encountering similar difficulties on his car.

A logical solution would normally be to fly replacement components to the circuit. However, according to Newey, that option currently does not exist.

"Unfortunately not, there aren't any," he said when asked whether spare batteries could be delivered from Honda’s Sakura factory in Japan before qualifying.