FIA President Advocates for Fernando Alonso's Future in Formula 1

Mohammed Ben Sulayem has drawn a clear line in the sand: Formula 1 cannot afford to lose Fernando Alonso like this.

The FIA president, speaking in Madrid, said it would be “not acceptable” for the two-time world champion to walk away from the sport while marooned in an uncompetitive Aston Martin, stuck at the wrong end of the grid with an underpowered Honda engine.

Alonso, 45, is out of contract at the end of the season and has already admitted his decision on whether to continue in F1 will come “not soon”. There is no rush from his side. On track, though, the urgency is obvious. Aston Martin sit 10th in the constructors’ standings, their car a shadow of the machine that briefly threatened the front last year, and Honda’s power-unit currently regarded as the weakest on the grid.

Ben Sulayem made it clear he does not want Alonso’s story to end like this.

“There is no way we can allow Fernando to leave – Alonso, a great champion – to leave just because of the circumstances,” he said. “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.”

The choice of words was striking. This was not the neutral, arms‑length tone usually expected from the head of motorsport’s governing body. It was emotional, almost protective.

Ben Sulayem described a recent conversation with Alonso, painting the picture of a home hero drained by a bleak season.

“I will be speaking to him,” he said. “I said to him, I saw him very sad, and I said, ‘Fernando, I understand, it's not acceptable that you are coming to your own country and now after two times a world champion…’”

The frustration is shared across the Aston Martin garage. Results have stalled, development has misfired, and a driver who built his reputation on dragging midfield cars into places they had no right to be is now boxed in by machinery that simply does not have the pace.

Ben Sulayem insisted the FIA has already moved to give Honda and Aston Martin more room to fight back. He referenced steps taken in May “legally for the team towards the engine to go and improve,” and revealed he had invited Alonso to give direct input on what was needed.

“I said to him: ‘I am 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.’”

Those remarks immediately raised eyebrows. The FIA president, openly asking a driver what should be done to help his team, sounds uncomfortably close to intervention in an area where neutrality and distance are supposed to be non‑negotiable.

An FIA spokesperson quickly moved to frame the comments in more technical, less personal terms. Ben Sulayem, they said, was referring to F1’s additional development and upgrade opportunities (Aduo) system.

Under Aduo, engine manufacturers whose power-units are judged to be more than 2% down on the benchmark are granted extra chances to upgrade their design. It is a safety valve built into the current power-unit freeze, designed to prevent one supplier from being stranded with a hopeless engine for years.

“It is a comment about the Aduo process and that he hopes FA stays in the sport,” the spokesperson said. “That is all.”

The clarification did not completely erase the sense that Ben Sulayem is walking a fine line. When pressed on whether his words hinted at overreach from a president who should be independently and objectively administering the rules, the response leaned on his background rather than his office.

“He is passionate about the drivers, having been one himself, and I really would not read too much into this,” the spokesperson added.

That passion has defined much of his tenure. So have the controversies. Ben Sulayem’s time in charge of the FIA has already been marked by criticism over governance, including concerns about checks and balances inside the organisation. His comments on Alonso will only feed the debate over how close a president should be to the competitive heartbeat of the paddock.

Strip away the politics, though, and one truth remains: Formula 1 is staring at the possibility of losing one of its greats in a season where he rarely sees the sharp end of a race.

Alonso’s future is his own to decide. Ben Sulayem has made clear how he wants that story to end – not with a slow fade in a car that cannot fight, but with a champion choosing his moment to step away on his own terms.