Stroll explains ‘really strange’ formation lap crash as Alonso says Aston Martin ‘need to regroup’ after tough Sao Paulo GP

Fernando Alonso has admitted that Aston Martin need to “regroup and get better” ahead of the final triple header of the season, with the team having failed to score points during a challenging weekend at the Sao Paulo Grand Prix which also saw an unusual formation lap crash for Lance Stroll.

After finishing at the rear of the pack during Saturday’s Sprint, the squad’s prospects did not greatly improve during a rescheduled qualifying session on Sunday morning as both Alonso and Stroll crashed out amid challenging weather conditions.

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While the team were able to repair each car in time to start the race, Stroll spun off during the formation lap and found himself beached in the gravel, leaving him unable to participate. Alonso, meanwhile, looked on course for points until a wide moment at the final restart dropped him to the back of the field.

The Spaniard managed to make up nearly 20 seconds to catch Zhou Guanyu and take 14th place, but later admitted that the AMR24 had struggled in race form compared to its earlier performance in qualifying.

“It was a tough race,” said Alonso. “The car was less performing in the race than in qualifying, we changed a couple of components after the crash and for sure it was not the same anymore.

“Also we had some brake issues in the cars, I think Lance had the brake issue on the formation lap, I had the brake issue in some of the restarts when it moves completely rearwards. All in all I think a tough weekend and we need to regroup and get better for the next three.”

Regarding the team’s prospects for that final run of races – beginning with the Las Vegas Grand Prix on November 21-23 – Alonso reiterated: “We need to find more performance. I think we underdelivered in the last three events.”

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Another issue affecting Alonso’s car during the race at the Autodromo Jose Carlos Pace was that of bouncing, with the two-time world champion reporting over the radio during the latter stages that his back was hurting as a result.

During a chat with Sky Sports F1 later on, Alonso appeared to have tears in his eyes and, when asked if this was down to the pain he had experienced from that problem, he responded: “Yeah.”

And when quizzed on where the Grand Prix ranked in terms of difficult races in his career, the 43-year-old added: “Yeah, a little bit for sure, some back pain, a lot of bouncing today.”

Stroll, meanwhile, admitted that his spin during the formation lap had been “really strange” as he pointed to a potential brake issue as the cause.

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“As soon as I touched the brake I just had a huge rear lock and then I was a passenger from there,” the Canadian explained. “I’ve never felt that in the car, so maybe there was a brake failure problem and we have to look into it.”

Reflecting on what could have been – with Stroll known to have performed well in wet conditions previously – he continued: “For sure in a race like this anything’s possible, so to be out on Lap 1 really sucks – but we have to look into what happened.”