Ben Sulayem Urges F1 to Ensure Alonso's Competitive Exit

Mohammed Ben Sulayem has drawn a clear line in the sand: Formula 1 should not allow Fernando Alonso to slip quietly out of the sport at the wheel of an uncompetitive car.

The FIA president, speaking at an event in Madrid, made it plain he believes the two-time world champion deserves a very different exit.

"There is no way we can allow Fernando to leave – Alonso, a great champion – to leave just because of the circumstances," Ben Sulayem 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."

Alonso, 45, is out of contract with Aston Martin at the end of the season and has already said his decision on whether to continue in F1 will come "not soon". Right now, the picture is bleak. Aston Martin sit 10th in the constructors’ standings, their car well off the pace and hamstrung by a Honda power-unit currently regarded as the least potent on the grid.

For a driver of Alonso’s pedigree, it is a jarring sight. A home hero, double world champion, marooned in the midfield.

Ben Sulayem admitted he had seen the strain on the Spaniard’s face.

"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 FIA president then revealed that action had already been taken earlier in the year aimed at giving Aston Martin’s engine partner a route to close the gap.

"We did something earlier, in May, legally for the team towards the engine to go and improve," he explained. "And then 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 comments immediately raised eyebrows. The head of motorsport’s governing body talking about intervening to help a specific team or driver inevitably invites questions about independence and objectivity.

The FIA moved quickly to frame his remarks.

An FIA spokesperson clarified that Ben Sulayem was referring to F1’s additional development and upgrade opportunities (Aduo) system. Under that mechanism, engine manufacturers whose power-units are assessed to be more than 2% down on the benchmark are granted extra scope to upgrade their designs.

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

Pressed on whether Ben Sulayem’s words hinted at overreach from a president whose organisation is supposed to act as a neutral regulator, the spokesperson pushed back.

"He is passionate about the drivers, having been one himself, and I really would not read too much into this," they said.

Ben Sulayem’s tenure at the top of the FIA has already been marked by controversy, including criticism over governance changes and the removal of some internal checks and balances. Against that backdrop, any suggestion he might lean in to influence competitive balance is bound to be scrutinised.

Yet the core of his message in Madrid was emotional rather than political. A veteran racer, now a powerful administrator, looking at one of the sport’s greats and refusing to accept the idea of a quiet fade-out in a struggling car.

Whether the Aduo system and Honda’s response can haul Aston Martin closer to the front is another matter. Alonso’s decision on his future, delayed for now, will hang over the paddock until he chooses his moment.

If Ben Sulayem gets his wish, that moment will not come with Alonso stuck in 10th place, wondering what might have been.