Mohammed Ben Sulayem says he will meet with Fernando Alonso to discuss his future in Formula 1, as it is “not acceptable” for the double world champion to retire before achieving further success.
His comments come less than 24 hours after Alonso admitted that the World Endurance Championship is an option for next season should he decide to leave Formula 1.
Mohammed Ben Sulayem wants Fernando Alonso to continue in Formula 1
Aston Martin has endured a difficult start to Formula 1’s new regulatory cycle, with Alonso scoring the team’s only points.
He finished tenth at the Monaco Grand Prix before adding two points to his tally with a ninth-place finish at Zandvoort.
However, for Alonso, Aston Martin’s performance is not the biggest factor behind his decision to re-sign with the team or quit Formula 1. It’s the regulations.
The Spaniard has been one of the more vocal critics of Formula 1’s new engine regulations, which put more emphasis on electrical energy with a near-50/50 split with the internal combustion engine.
“I think it’s a matter of understanding whether the rules from next year will have an impact or not on the racing and on the driving side of things,” he told PlanetF1.com and other media of his F1 2027 decision.
“I think the current cars, as I’ve said many times, are not the best cars to drive and to enjoy. But next year there is a step, I think, in the right direction hopefully.”
A step that Ben Sulayem is keen to emphasise to Alonso as he tries to persuade the Spaniard not to retire.
Addressing the New Economy Forum in Madrid, the FIA president revealed that while he had already had private discussions with Aston Martin team owner Lawrence Stroll, he now wants to speak with Alonso about his future.
“There is no way we can allow Fernando to leave,” he said at the New Economy Forum, “Alonso, a great champion, to leave just because of the circumstances.
“That’s not the way to leave the stage.
“He has to be successful, and then he leaves whenever he wants. Not because he was forced to leave because of the performance.
“I share the issues. The car is not performing.
“I met with the owner, with Lawrence, yesterday, and I am going to do the changes.
“I will talk to him [Alonso] to try to make him change his mind – it’s not acceptable. I’m sorry.
“It’s the first time I heard it. I heard some rumours, but when I saw him, he didn’t mention it.”
The FIA president revealed he had already had one conversation with Alonso about the sport’s regulations, in which he asked the Spaniard what he wants for the future.
“I saw him very sad, and I said, ‘Fernando, I understand that it’s not acceptable that you are coming to your own country and then now, after two times the world champion, and you are at the last’,” Ben Sulayem said.
“We did something earlier in May legally for the team, towards the engine, to go and improve.
“Then I said to him, ‘I’m not going to tell you what we are going to do, please tell me what you want, because you are the driver, and come and tell me what you want us to do to improve these results’.
“Suddenly you see everything change, and then I get a call, and then I had a meeting yesterday.”
The FIA announced in May tweaks to the ADUO process, including allocating extra hours on the test bench for struggling power unit manufacturers.
While originally, the worst-performing engine was regarded as one that was more than eight per cent off the best and was capped at 190 hours of test bench hours, the FIA added an additional category for a PUM that is 10 per cent off the best-performing. That category increases to 230 hours of test bench hours.
Additionally, the financial regulations were also revised to allow a PUM more than 10 per cent behind to make a downward adjustment of $11 million for the reporting period, albeit only in its inaugural season.
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Originally published by Planet F1 —
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