Ben Sulayem slams F1 critics: ‘Only teams behind are complaining'

Mohammed Ben Sulayem has delivered a blunt message to Formula 1’s grumbling teams over the sport’s controversial new power unit regulations: stop complaining and build a better car.

The FIA president has little patience for the growing chorus of criticism surrounding F1’s 2026 engine rules, particularly from teams and figures unhappy with the impact the regulations have had on racing and performance.

From awkward drivability concerns to complaints about electrification dominating the power delivery, the new era has hardly arrived to universal applause.

But according to Ben Sulayem, the outrage has a very convenient pattern. The teams winning are not the ones making noise.

A level playing field to develop a new PU

Ben Sulayem first defended the FIA’s process in creating the regulations, insisting the governing body did not spring the rules on the paddock overnight like an unwelcome tax bill.

“We consulted with the power unit manufacturers and we consulted with teams,” Ben Sulayem told Forbes. “When I took over, it was 2022 – it was signed in 2022, in August.

“But this didn’t come in eight months. It has been [discussed] for 18 months, collectively, with all of the teams, and then was introduced.”

The FIA chief pointed out that every manufacturer and constructor had exactly the same runway to prepare for the new regulations before the first on-track tests in Barcelona this year.

“Everybody had the same time: if you look at August of 2022 and then the implementation in the [first] test they did which was in Barcelona [this year], that was enough time for everyone,” he said.

“Some of them had an issue with the car – [some] the power unit and some with the chassis – but it’s amazing how only the people who are behind who are complaining. Did you hear Mercedes or Ferrari complain? No, of course they won’t. It’s a cycle.

“It’s today you have someone who is so good, and then everybody wants to be taking his place. And that’s the competitors, being competitive. But [the criticism is] only from the people who maybe didn’t do it right.”

In other words: Formula 1’s annual tradition of “the rules are terrible” apparently only begins once somebody discovers they are slower than expected.

FIA admits the rules needed tweaks

That said, the FIA is not pretending the rollout has been flawless.

Concerns following the opening rounds of the season – particularly around safety, drivability and energy deployment – prompted urgent discussions after this year’s opening races. Those talks eventually led to a package of changes introduced in Miami aimed at calming some of the growing unease.

Ben Sulayem stressed those decisions were not political favours, but practical responses.

“We had a discussion after Australia, we had to discuss it with our technical department and the single-seater [commission] and then we came with consultation with the drivers,” the Emirati explained.

“So we consulted with the drivers [on] how to apply the electrification, and a matter of safety, and now it seems it’s better.

“To do that, for the FIA, it’s our responsibility. We don’t take decisions just because we feel like it. We engage, we consult, we take all of the information and then we see what’s the best for everyone, not the best single team.”

That final sentence feels particularly pointed in a paddock where every technical debate eventually descends into accusations that somebody, somewhere, is secretly gaming the system.

The V8 conversation is up and running

And just as teams are finally getting their heads around the current engine formula, Ben Sulayem is already eyeing its replacement.

The FIA president confirmed he is pushing to accelerate plans for a return to V8 engines powered by sustainable fuels – a move that would dramatically shorten the lifespan of the current regulations.

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“The new engine, we talked about a V8, and I’m more now thinking of bringing the V8 back because at the end of 2030 the FIA gets back the power to do the engine without even having to go through a vote,” he said. “But we would like to make it one year earlier.”

That would mean the current power units survive barely four seasons before being shown the exit door – a brutally short shelf life compared to the previous generation of engines, which remained in service for more than a decade.

Which, in a way, perfectly captures Formula 1 itself.

Spend years arguing over a set of regulations, billions developing them, endless meetings negotiating them – and then immediately start planning the next argument.

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