Fernando Alonso responds to FIA president with rousing F1 plea

Fernando Alonso has responded to reports FIA president Mohammed Ben Sulayem is trying to keep him in F1 for 2027 by aiding Aston Martin and its power unit supplier, Honda.

Alonso is weighing up his future in grand prix racing, and whether he will return in 2027 for what would be a 24th season in the championship. 

However, the two-time world champion has just three points to his name thus far in 2026 as Aston Martin and Honda struggle with its package, although there has been some improvement since a huge upgrade at the Hungarian GP. 

A Honda engine upgrade followed at the Dutch GP, with reports emerging over the Spanish GP weekend that FIA chief Ben Sulayem was seeking to aid Honda where possible to ensure it reaches a level of competitiveness, and that he felt Alonso's competitve state was "not acceptable" heading into his home grand prix. 

Responding publicly to these comments, Alonso explained that whilst he had not spoken with Ben Sulayem, he had with his F1 counterpart, Stefano Domenicali, and made his views plainly clear.

"I don't know, I mean, I have a lot of things to go through already to try to make up my mind for next year," Alonso told media, including RacingNews365, when asked for his response to Ben Sulayem's efforts. 

"I didn't speak with him, but I speak with Stefano [Domenicali] regularly every week because Formula 1 cannot continue in this way. We cannot wait for 2031 to have a proper sport, so I think it is my responsibility to help them with my experience to [do whatever] we can to improve these kinds of things.

"Turn 12, whoever is fastest there- I don't want to pick a name, but it cannot be Michael [Clayton, Aston Martin's press officer], faster than Max Verstappen if he has more battery, because Turn 12 is such an incredible corner that it has to be Max Verstappen making the difference compared to Michael, and at the moment, we can't.

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Fernando Alonso bemoans competitive state of F1

Alonso has been critical of the 2026 rules, believing that high-speed corners have become "charging stations" for the batteries, which now generate 50% of the total power output from the engine.

Continuing his theme of using Aston Martin's press officer to make his point, Alonso then drew a comparison to Max Verstappen. 

"It is sad, in a way, with this generation of cars to come to a very nice circuit like this, with the challenges here like La Monumental, and the driver input is just nothing," he said. 

"Michael can drive in Turn 12 because you go flat with no kinetic deployment. At the point the kinetic comes, then you go fast on the exit, but in Formula 1 or motorsport, it should be that in Turn 12, if Michael is braver than me, he goes faster.

"If I have more attributes, then I go faster than him. That's how it should be in qualifying, and now it is just how much state of charge I have, and I will go faster or slower."