Aston Martin 'paying the price' for major error - Alonso

Fernando Alonso has conceded Aston Martin is "paying the price" for introducing an upgraded car package at the United States Grand Prix Sprint weekend.

The Silverstone-based squad unveiled updates to its car at the Circuit of the Americas, including changes to its floor and diffuser.

However, it had little practice time on Friday with Lance Stroll suffering a brake issue that restricted him to just five laps before qualifying.

Both Alonso and Stroll were then eliminated in the first segment of qualifying, while they also failed to advance into the top 10 during the Sprint Shootout.

A lot of risk

Aston Martin's pace has been slipping in recent months having commenced the season in podium-scoring form and having eyed a turnaround with its upgrade package, Alonso said after the Shootout: “Obviously it’s disappointing, you just try to complete the laps and hopefully score some points.

“But I think it’s going to be probably no points this weekend for us. It’s painful.

“We took a lot of risk bringing the new package here with one free practice. We are paying the price of that in the worst way possible.

“But we are here to win, not just to score points every few weekends.

“We have to take these bold decisions and hopefully the price will pay out at the end of the year if we have more information about this package.”