Fernando Alonso facing ‘real test’ as Aston Martin addresses AMR26 ‘pain’

Aston Martin has confirmed that it has made tweaks to Fernando Alonso’s seat ahead of this weekend’s Monaco Grand Prix.

It comes after Alonso was forced to retire from the last race in Canada due to pain caused by his seat.

Aston Martin takes steps to ease Fernando Alonso seat pain

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Alonso dropped out of last month’s Canadian Grand Prix after just 23 of 68 laps due to a problem with the seat of his AMR26.

The 44-year-old later commented that he felt “more and more uncomfortable” as the laps ticked by, with chief trackside officer Mike Krack revealing that Alonso “has been uncomfortable for a while.”

The two-time world champion previously sat out opening practice at last year’s Hungarian Grand Prix due to what Aston Martin described as a ‘muscular injury in his back.’

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Speaking to PlanetF1.com and other media outlets on Thursday ahead of this weekend’s Monaco Grand Prix, Krack revealed that Aston Martin has been working on a resolution to Alonso’s troubles.

And he has not ruled out further tweaks to the seat as the weekend develops in Monte Carlo, admitting Friday’s track action will offer “the real test” of whether Aston Martin’s fixes have worked.

Asked if Aston Martin has taken steps to fix the issue, Krack said: “We were here from Tuesday morning with Fernando.

“He lives around the corner here, so a lot of work went into it on Tuesday with a lot of variations.

“Now, the driving is the real test.

“You see it statically, it’s not always the same, but I think we made this really small step in the right direction.

“He was mildly confident that this is going to be an improvement, but I would not be surprised if we have to do another tweak over the sessions to get him really comfortable.”

Krack went on to explain that Aston Martin’s changes have gone far beyond altering the angle of Alonso’s seating position, with his distance to the steering wheel and the FIA’s maximum seating height restrictions coming into consideration.

He explained: “You cannot just change one thing because then you need to change the paddles, you need to check the regular regulation height, the steering wheel distance, all these kind of things.

“So it’s never one single thing, it’s a complete set of changes and that makes it a bit complicated.”

Asked if Alonso, who stands at 1.71 metres (5ft7in) tall, is now sitting higher in the cockpit as a result of the changes, Krack quipped: “He can’t be much lower!”

Krack’s latest comments come after he confirmed that Aston Martin team principal Adrian Newey will make a welcome return to the paddock this weekend.

Newey has not attended a race since the season-opening Australian Grand Prix in March, with reports last month claiming the 67-year-old had spent a stint in hospital due to illness.

PlanetF1.com understands that Newey, who made his first trackside appearance with Aston Martin at this race in 2025, arrived in Monte Carlo yesterday evening.

Additional reporting by Thomas Maher

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