Ben Sulayem sees Aston Martin fighting for the title by 2025, perhaps a rather optimistic, even crazy prediction by FIA President Mohammed Ben Sulayem, who was at the Dakar Rally this week. The president reviewed a number of Formula One related news topics with the media, including the cost cap.
FIA President Mohammed Ben Sulayem remains confident that the introduction of the cost cap in F1 will allow teams like Aston Martin to compete for the world title in the short term.
Introduced in Formula One in 2021, the cost cap is supposed to bring the big and small teams on the grid closer together.
But while in the first two years of introduction this has not yet been achieved, the FIA president says he is optimistic for the future and believes that teams such as Aston Martin will be able to compete with the big boys for the world title.
“Teams are facing a technological challenge and have to perform within a capped budget, and you’ve already seen that we’ve been very transparent about what happened with Red Bull [exceeding the cap in 2021],” Ben Sulayem told the media during his Dakar trip this week.
“The FIA is monitoring all this, it’s our responsibility. Now, the difference between some teams is still big, but we have to make sure that the budget cap allows the small ones to get closer to the big ones.”
Asked if he thinks Aston Martin will be able to challenge for the world championship in two or three years’ time, Ben Sulayem was very optimistic:
“On paper they should be able to do it.”
“Their investment is great and they have a smart driver in Fernando Alonso. I think they can, but winning is very difficult, look at Ferrari. They didn’t win [in 2022]but not because they are slow, but more because of reliability and management, it’s a whole package.”
“Aston Martin doesn’t have a budget problem. Maybe it needs to change some things – and [team boss] Lawrence Stroll is doing that with a new driver [Alonso]new staff…and that’s also important.”
In 2022, the Aston Martin team finished seventh in the constructors’ world championship, tied on points with Alfa Romeo. In 2023, two-time world champion Fernando Alonso joined the team alongside Canadian Lance Stroll.
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