The reclined seating position that caused Fernando Alonso's Canadian GP retirement

Aston Martin’s dismal start to the 2026 Formula 1 campaign has been well documented with problems across the AMR26 - most notably its power unit. But last weekend’s Canadian Grand Prix highlighted another issue after Fernando Alonso retired on lap 23 of 68 all because of his seating position.

It was quite the shame because Montreal, looking at the bigger picture, was Aston’s best weekend of the season as Alonso progressed to SQ2 - albeit due to Alex Albon and Liam Lawson not setting a lap - before running inside the top 10 during the Sunday race, though again aided by favourable circumstances and some nice overtakes.

Regardless, lap after lap the two-time F1 champion experienced an increasingly intense back pain that eventually caused his retirement because “we had this issue with the seat. “I felt increasingly uncomfortable,” Alonso said.

“The position wasn’t right and since we were out of the points, far from the points zone, and with no threat of rain, we decided to put an end to the pain. We tried to adjust a few things last night, but it didn’t work."

There is a backstory to this as well, as between Saturday and Sunday the technicians plus Alonso tried to modify the seat. This was done to see if the problem was related to that specific unit, which is molded to the driver’s shape with a carbon fibre structure to which supports are then added. But the situation didn’t improve, and in fact, there doesn't seem to be a defect in the seat itself.

So according to Aston’s chief trackside officer Mike Krack, the cause is primarily due to the cockpit position which was modified from previous seasons to be even more reclined. This change was designed to lower the centre of gravity and, in theory, reduce the helmet’s exposure to airflow, thereby minimising turbulence and improving performance.

Fernando Alonso, Aston Martin Racing

Photo by: Kym Illman / Getty Images

While the issue had surfaced in other races without ever forcing either driver to retire, in Canada the pain became unbearable. Onboard footage showed Alonso, on multiple occasions, moving his left hand from the steering wheel toward the inside of the cockpit between his legs, both on the straight before the final chicane and leading into Turn 8.

What made the matter more serious is the kerb situation at Circuit Gilles Villeneuve. Compared to other races, they are used much more frequently and that amplified the vibrations. Krack said: “He hasn’t felt completely comfortable for a while now - never to the point of becoming a real obstacle, but it’s like a pressure point that gets worse lap after lap, and I think we need to reconsider the seating position a bit.

“With these cars, you always try to sit as low as possible, and if you look at how drivers have been sitting in recent years, the position has become increasingly more relaxed. We need to check. Maybe we’ve gone a step too far, but it’s something we need to look into.”

Clearly, the Silverstone outfit will now try to introduce temporary fixes ahead of next weekend’s Monaco Grand Prix. But, as Krack explained, more extensive changes might be needed - ones that directly affect the driver’s position in the cockpit - even if this solution wouldn’t be so immediate.

When asked if it was an issue that could be resolved with a new seat, or if it was due to a problem with that specific unit, Krack said: “No, I don’t think so. I think we may need to reconsider the situation a bit, going back to how we were in the past.”