Alonso exit exposes Aston Martin cockpit concern

Fernando Alonso retired from the Canadian Grand Prix on lap 23 of 68 after worsening back pain pushed Aston Martin to urgently review the AMR26’s seating and cockpit position.

Aston Martin chief trackside officer Mike Krack said the problem had been building for several race weekends, but in Montreal it developed into a back "pressure point" that became more severe lap after lap. The team now believes its pursuit of performance may have contributed, with Alonso sitting in an increasingly reclined position in the car.

Krack told select media including RacingNews365 that Aston Martin may have gone too far in that direction. "I think we need to reconsider a little bit the positioning of the seat. You try with these cars to be as low as you can. When you look at how the drivers used to sit over the last few years, it goes more and more into a lying position, and we need to check whether we may have gone a step too far."

The team had tried to address the issue before Sunday by modifying Alonso’s seat between Saturday and the race, checking whether the problem was tied to that specific unit. It did not solve the pain, and Aston Martin does not think the seat itself is defective.

Alonso said the discomfort kept increasing during the race. "I felt increasingly uncomfortable," he said, adding that "the position wasn’t right" and that the team chose to stop once there was no realistic upside in staying out.

Krack said Aston Martin only kept Alonso running while a change in weather still looked possible. Once the threat of rain disappeared and Alonso was out of the points fight, the team decided there was "no need to risk" making the problem worse by carrying on.

That leaves Aston Martin looking beyond a simple seat replacement. Krack said the team may need to move back toward an earlier cockpit setup, and it plans to reevaluate Alonso’s full installation in the AMR26 before the next race in Monaco.