Bad news arrives for Fernando Alonso. The Iran conflict could throw a wrench into Aston Martin’s plans. According to the specialist journalist Marc Limacher, Saudi Arabia has decided to pause its collaboration with Aston Martin. For now, there will be no new budget for the 2027 season, as had been planned.
The reason is the war in Iran, which is causing a substantial economic impact across the region. In fact, Formula 1 is canceling all races scheduled in the Middle East, including the Saudi Arabian Grand Prix itself. If confirmed, this would be a crushing blow for Aston Martin.
Saudi Arabia was set to increase its budget and add another sponsor in 2027
Serious problems for Aston Martin, and this time they are not sporting, they are financial, which is arguably worse. Saudi Arabia would be freezing the sponsorship program that had been planned for the 2027 season. This is reported by Marc Limacher, a journalist specializing in the economics of Formula 1 and author of the annual book Business/bookGP.
Saudi Arabia is the principal sponsor of Aston Martin in Formula 1 through its oil giant Aramco, but it also promotes other national companies such as Maaden or Saudia Airlines. The plan for 2027 was that Saudi Arabia would increase its sponsorship, with a larger budget and an additional sponsor, but that is now frozen.
The Saudi country is very concerned about the war situation in the region. The United States and Israel maintain their conflict in Iran, which jeopardizes the global economy, something that also affects Formula 1, and even Saudi Arabia. Until a solution is in sight, Aston Martin will be left without sponsorship.
In principle, this does not mean that the Aramco or Maaden decals will disappear from the AMR26 and its successors, but that Saudi Arabia will not execute the plan that had already been approved to increase those sponsorships. So Aston Martin will face a hole in the budgets they had already mapped out for 2027.
The point is that Formula 1 in general is suffering from the dictates of the war. They have already had to cancel the Saudi and Bahrain Grands Prix, moving the latter’s venue to Sepang. Everything points to Qatar and Abu Dhabi, the last two races of the season, also being dropped from the 2026 calendar.
So it is no longer just about the price of gasoline; it is the future of Fernando Alonso that depends on the United States and Israel ending the war in Iran.
Images | Aston Martin
