We are not in Formula 1

Dacia driver Nasser Al-Attiyah has questioned FIA’s decision to prevent Ford rival Carlos Sainz Sr from completing the 2025 Dakar Rally on safety grounds.

Sainz Sr and Al-Attiyah’s team-mate Sebastien Loeb were forced out of Dakar at the start of this week after suffering damage to their roll cages in separate accidents.

That eliminated two of the pre-rally favourites from the Ultimate category, leaving five-time winner Al-Attiyah to contend with just Ford’s Mattias Ekstrom and Toyota duo Henk Lategan and Yazeed Al-Rajhi for the overall victory.

In its reasoning, the FIA stated that it cannot guarantee the drivers would be safe inside the cockpit in case of a repeat accident. It also explained why it couldn’t allow manufacturers to repair the chassis during the rally.

However, Al-Attiyah wasn’t pleased with the FIA’s explanation, saying: “It’s not killing the race, the problem is that the rules are not clear. I want to race with all the people, also Carlos [Sainz], Seb [Loeb], Laia [Sanz]. Why is Carlos not here? No reason.

“We can fix it, the team can fix it, why do you say, ‘OK, it’s over’? We’re not in Formula 1, we’re in cross-country. How many cars now [left?]. If you go and check carefully, do you find any faults.”

The Qatari driver was also incensed by a 10-minute time penalty for losing a spare wheel during Stage 5 on Thursday, robbing him of victory by just one second.

#225 Ford M-Sport Ford: Carlos Sainz Sr., Lucas Cruz

Photo by: A.S.O.

Stating his intention to write a letter to the president of FIA president Mohammed ben Sulayem about the sanction, he said: “I don’t understand it. To lose the tyres with the support [structure] and then the spectator finds the tyre with the support and you get ten minutes. I don’t accept it. 

“But I’m working to fix that whole problem because that’s not sport, we have to be fair. If I do it the wrong way and drop the tyres, OK, I get ten minutes penalty, but we didn’t realise, we have to be fair, but I will make a good letter to the [FIA] president, to avoid all that.”

Al-Attiyah currently sits fourth in the overall standings, 30 minutes down on Toyota rival Lategan, with six of the 12 stages still to run.

Despite having a sizeable deficit to overcome, the 54-year-old said he is confident about his chances of recording another win in Dakar and getting close to Stephane Peterhansel’s record of eight wins in the cars category.

“I will win. I have no doubt,” he said. Everyone wants to win, I have won five times already, but none of them have won yet. The next six days will be difficult for the three of us because when you want to win, you start to make a lot of mistakes.

“The gap is not big, it’s seven minutes or ten minutes [between Lategan and Al-Rajhi]. It’s not big, and any mistake can make you lose.

“I’m waiting for the mistakes, and while I’m going to make my strategy for the next two days, and then the three days of dunes, if I’m close, I’m going to go flat out.”