FIA President Mohammed Ben Sulayem has urged Fernando Alonso to stay in F1 amid exit rumours, as he reveals discussions with Aston Martin and things they have done.
Even though ’s Alonso disclosed that he will decide about his F1 future in the summer, the Spaniard has since delayed the same, with three races already in since the break. There is no announcement scheduled at his home event in the Spanish GP in Madrid this weekend, as well.
Alonso Answers About WEC Proposal
When asked about the same in the press conference, Alonso said there was no urgency as he pondered what step to take due to the current F1 regulations rather than the performance of Aston Martin Honda. In fact, when asked if he has the World Endurance Championship as an option.While the deliberation continues behind the scenes, FIA President Sulayem has urged the Spaniard to stay in F1 and only leave once he is competitive again. He said he had a chat with Stroll on Thursday, and he will meet the Spaniard again during the weekend to push him to stay.
FIA President Calls It Unacceptable, Won’t Allow Alonso to Leave
“There is no way we can allow Fernando to leave, Alonso, a great champion, to leave just because of the circumstances,” said Sulayem at New Economy Forum in Madrid. “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. As I said, I met with the owner, Lawrence Stroll yesterday, and I am going to do the changes and I will talk to him to try to make him change his mind. It’s not acceptable,” summed up Sulayem, who said he was surprised to hear the latest rumours about an exit. The FIA head could sense sadness in the eyes and body language of Alonso.
Sulayem Notes Help Extended to Honda
In the same speech, Sulayem revealed having made changes to the F1 2026 regulations to help Honda – legally. He did not specify what exactly, but it could be related to the ADUO system, where Honda was found to be four percent down on the benchmark Red Bull Ford.Since then, Honda has deployed an upgrade after the summer break at Zandvoort, which they are still trying to extract performance from. Sulayem noted that he will ask Alonso when he meets him what they can do to keep him in F1. “I’m sorry, it’s the first time I hear it,” he said.
“I heard some rumours, but when I saw him, he didn’t mention it, I will be speaking to him. I said to him, I saw him very sad, 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’. We did something earlier in May, legally, for the team, towards the engine, to go and improve.
“And 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 do you want us to do to improve these results. Suddenly, you see everything change. And then I got a call and then I had a meeting yesterday. We are here also to support. But also mentioning the love of the sport,” summed up Sulayem.