Guenther Steiner fires back at Mohammed Ben Sulayem over Fernando Alonso remarks

Setembro 18, 2026 lojamais44@gmail.com

Former Haas Formula 1 team principal Guenther Steiner has heavily criticised suggestions from FIA president Mohammed Ben Sulayem that the governing body could help Aston Martin to retain Fernando Alonso in the championship.

Amid a torrid 2026 campaign so far for the Silverstone outfit, Ben Sulayem stated ahead of the Spanish Grand Prix that it was “not acceptable” for the two-time champion to be uncompetitive and offered to help improve the team’s situation to prevent Alonso from retiring.

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

“I will be speaking to him. 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…’

“We did something earlier, in May, legally for the team towards the engine to go and improve, 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.'”

It is worth noting that an FIA spokesperson said that the comments related to the additional development and upgrade opportunities (ADUO) system.

The Spaniard will be of contract with Aston Martin at the end of this season. As a result, there have been multiple rumours about either a move to Alpine or retirement.

Fernando Alonso, Aston Martin Racing

Photo by: Sam Bagnall / Sutton Images via Getty Images

During an appearance on The Red Flags Podcast, Steiner reacted to Ben Sulayem’s message.

“Nobody deserves to be there or be anywhere. Not only in Formula 1. You need to work to be there. You need to want to be there, but not deserve it,” Steiner argued.

“What does deserve mean? Nobody deserves anything, in my opinion, in a sport, in life is something different. To say that Aston Martin needs to figure that out, that’s their problem. That is not the federation’s problem.”

Steiner pointed to some of the other teams that are struggling in 2026. Cadillac, which joined the grid this season as the 11th team, is yet to score any points.

“So what should Cadillac say? Oh, we deserve to be better. We need some help,” he continued. “They need a lot of help, by the way, a lot more than Aston Martin, because Aston Martin can help themselves and they will help themselves.”