Fernando Alonso retires himself from Azerbaijan Grand Prix in new Aston Martin low

Fernando Alonso appeared to take the decision to retire from Saturday's Azerbaijan Grand Prix by himself, ending a dreadful weekend for Aston Martin.

Lance Stroll made it to just the seventh lap before he parked up off the track with a water pressure issue, his eighth retirement in ten grands prix and season-high fourth in a row, with Alonso lasting just a dozen or so laps more.

The Spaniard was heard on the radio complaining about a possible engine problem as he lost time hand over fist down the long front straight at the Baku street circuit.

Alonso's race engineer got on the radio to tell his driver that the team were checking to see if they could identify the source of his complaints, saying there's 'nothing we can do at the moment', only to be told by the two-time world champion: "Yeah, but. I think we will box at the end of this lap."

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Alonso: We knew this weekend wouldn't be strong

Sure enough, the Spaniard's race ended on the 20th lap, pulling into the garage and parking up for the afternoon. Speaking after the race, he explained: “Unfortunately, we had to retire the car as we seemed to be losing a lot of time on the straights and so we need to analyse this further.

"We knew this weekend wasn’t going to be a strong one for us and it proved to be the case. It’s where we are right now and let’s see if we can have a stronger weekend in Malaysia.”

Former team principal and current chief trackside officer Mike Krack also spoke on the team's unproductive day and double retirement, saying: “There was not a huge amount to fight for today with our pace on this circuit. Lance’s race ended early on lap eight with a water pressure issue and we asked him to stop the car.

"Fernando reported suspected PU issues and was losing some time on the straights before he retired on lap 20. We will analyse and regroup in time for our visit to Sepang next week.”

Not, frankly, the sort of weekend that's going to convince Alonso to stay in the sport if he is genuinely wavering on his position for 2027.

READ MORE: Lewis Hamilton calls for Ferrari investigation after Azerbaijan Grand Prix flop

READ MORE: Lando Norris calls for FIA bans after Azerbaijan GP crash: 'Not driving that deserves to be in F1'

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