{"id":892663,"date":"2026-09-15T08:20:10","date_gmt":"2026-09-15T08:20:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/892663\/"},"modified":"2026-09-15T08:20:10","modified_gmt":"2026-09-15T08:20:10","slug":"fernando-alonso-responds-to-fia-president-urgent-talks-request","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/892663\/","title":{"rendered":"Fernando Alonso responds to FIA president urgent talks request"},"content":{"rendered":"

Fernando Alonso<\/a> has warned Formula 1 cannot wait until 2031 to fix its current problems, insisting the sport needs to become a \u201cproper sport\u201d much sooner.<\/p>\n

His comments were in response to FIA president Mohammed Ben Sulayem saying he wants to speak with the Spaniard about the regulations, in an attempt to convince him not to quit at the end of F1 2026.<\/p>\n

Fernando Alonso calls for quicker Formula 1 fix<\/p>\n

Alonso has yet to decide whether he will continue with Aston Martin next season, with his decision resting on Formula 1\u2019s engine regulations.<\/p>\n

Alonso<\/a> has been outspoken in his criticism of the sport\u2019s new engine regulations, which put greater emphasis on electrical energy with a near-50\/50 split with the internal combustion engine.<\/p>\n

The Spaniard complained after the Sprint at the British Grand Prix that super clipping and energy harvesting mean there \u201cis not any driver input or driver talent needed to overtake a car in front of you.<\/p>\n

\u201cYou don\u2019t need to outbrake anyone, you don\u2019t need to overtake on the outside, you don\u2019t need to take any risk.\u201d<\/p>\n

But while Alonso says F1\u2019s engine plans for 2027 will play a big role in his decision on whether to continue, the situation has not been helped by Honda\u2019s struggles.<\/p>\n

Aston Martin\u2019s new engine partner has found itself lagging behind rival power unit manufacturers in both of this season\u2019s Additional Development and Upgrade Opportunities [ADUO] findings. Honda\u2019s ICE, according to the FIA\u2019s measurements, was more than four per cent behind.<\/p>\n

Ben Sulayem told the New Economy Forum in Spain that he wants to help Honda, as he wants to persuade Alonso to continue in F1 2027<\/a>.<\/p>\n

\u201cThere is no way we can allow Fernando to leave,\u201d he said, \u201cAlonso, a great champion, to leave just because of the circumstances. That\u2019s not the way to leave the stage.\u201d<\/p>\n

The FIA president, who has promised to reintroduce V8 engines with minimal electrical power in 2030 or 2031, added that he wants to speak with Alonso. He wants to hear from the double world champion what \u201cyou want, because you are the driver, and come and tell me what you want us to do to improve these results\u201d.<\/p>\n

Alonso was asked about Ben Sulayem\u2019s comments during the Spanish Grand Prix weekend.<\/p>\n

Go deeper: Fernando Alonso\u2019s Aston Martin contract<\/p>\n

F1 driver contracts: What is the contract status of every driver on the F1 2026 grid?<\/a><\/p>\n

F1 2027 driver line-up: Which drivers are already confirmed for the 2027 grid?<\/a><\/p>\n

Asked if he was optimistic that some agreement could be found to help Honda, Alonso made it clear that he thinks it is the regulations in general that need to be fixed.<\/p>\n

He told PlanetF1.com and other accredited media in Madrid: \u201cI don\u2019t know. I mean, I have a lot of things to go through already. Try to make up my mind for next year.<\/p>\n

\u201cI didn\u2019t speak with him, but I speak with Stefano [Domenicali] regularly every week because Formula 1 cannot continue in this way.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe cannot wait for 2031 to have a proper sport.<\/p>\n

\u201cI think it is my responsibility to help them with my experience to make whatever we can to improve these kinds of things.<\/p>\n

\u201cTurn 12, whoever is fastest there \u2013 I don\u2019t want to pick a name, but it cannot be Michael faster than Max Verstappen if he has more battery.<\/p>\n

\u201cBecause 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\u2019t.\u201d<\/p>\n

Michael Clayton is Aston Martin\u2019s press officer.<\/p>\n

Again using Michael as an example, Alonso said the new rules no longer favour the braver drivers.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt is sad in a way with this generation of cars to come to a very nice circuit like this, with the challenges here and there like La Monumental, and the driver input is just nothing,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

\u201cMichael can drive in Turn 12 because you go flat with no K deployment. At the point the K comes, then you go fast on the exit.<\/p>\n

\u201cBut in Formula 1, or motorsport in general, it should be that in Turn 12, if Michael is braver than me, he goes faster.<\/p>\n

\u201cIf I have more attributes, I will go faster than him. That\u2019s 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.\u201d<\/p>\n

Additional reporting by Thomas Maher<\/p>\n

Want to be the first to know exclusive information from the F1 paddock? Join our broadcast channel on WhatsApp<\/a> to get the scoop on the latest developments from our team of accredited journalists.<\/p>\n

You can also subscribe to the PlanetF1 YouTube channel<\/a> for exclusive features, hear from our paddock journalists with stories from the heart of Formula 1 and much more!<\/p>\n

Read Next \u2013 Spanish GP conclusions: Imaginary Hamilton challenge over, Norris joins elite, soulless Madring<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Fernando Alonso has warned Formula 1 cannot wait until 2031 to fix its current problems, insisting the sport…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":892664,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[573],"tags":[2495,64,63,817,845,837,813,816,818,44,17165,85],"class_list":["post-892663","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-formula-1","tag-aston-martin","tag-au","tag-australia","tag-f1","tag-fernando-alonso","tag-fia","tag-formula-1","tag-formula1","tag-home-page","tag-news","tag-popular","tag-sports"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/892663","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=892663"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/892663\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/892664"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=892663"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=892663"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=892663"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}