MotoGP’s F1-fuelled identity crisis is getting worse amid sprint qualifying outcry

MotoGP announced ahead of this weekend’s Indonesian Grand Prix that a new race weekend format would be introduced in 2027, centred around the addition of a sprint qualifying session.

The revised weekend format sees two practice sessions on Friday of 45 minutes and 30 minutes, before a 15-minute qualifying at the end of the day to decide the grid for the sprint. A 20-minute practice will follow on Saturday before the usual grand prix qualifying, with the sprint concluding the day’s action.

The grand prix will remain on Sunday, though warm-up has been canned in favour of a 10-minute sighting lap period.

The idea is that it will create more excitement for fans. But it’s pretty telling that fan reaction on social media has been overwhelmingly negative. It then raises the question: what exactly are these kinds of decisions being based on?

But the sprint qualifying idea is very much in keeping with the identity crisis MotoGP has been battling in the post-COVID era, and one made even worse since Liberty Media took over ownership in its blockbuster €4.2-billion acquisition of the series in 2024.

In a bid to engage audiences more, it turned to Formula 1’s sprint race idea and gave it the Spinal Tap treatment: why have six when you can have 22? It was a proposal the riders tried to fight against, with Alex Marquez revealing on Thursday at Mandalika that they argued for having them at half of the grands prix.

But once a decision is made by the powers that be, the riders’ thoughts seem to be taken as a courtesy rather than as constructive. And so, in the first year of the sprints in 2023, not a single race weekend featured the entire full-time grid. And that’s a trend that has continued since. More starts plus more risk equals more injuries.

MotoGP has seen better crowd figures in recent years, however, with more attendance records broken. The aim, then, has met its intended outcome.

With F1 adopting sprint qualifying in recent years, it was inevitable that MotoGP would follow suit. The growth Liberty has achieved for F1 has been impressive, and MotoGP will almost certainly benefit from that in the long run. But there comes a point when copying homework goes a bit too far.

F1 brought in sprints; so did MotoGP. F1 came up with its own theme tune and intro video for races; MotoGP followed suit with a rip-off imitation. A greater emphasis on influencer marketing was pivotal in F1’s growth, so MotoGP is doing the same. F1’s calendar has pivoted more towards street tracks and circuits near major population centres; MotoGP is killing an iconic track in Phillip Island for a street race in Adelaide.

In its pursuit of growth, MotoGP seems to be blending further into the shadow of its four-wheeled big brother.

Format change further highlights rider union issue

The new race format for 2027 came, just as the sprints did, with little input from the riders. Marc Marquez was blunt in his reaction to it when he was asked about it in Thursday’s press conference in Indonesia, presumably in the hope that he would get a positive vox pop from the championship’s biggest voice.

“Yeah, the thing is, it’s interesting to understand what the main goal is of that change, because for the rider it’s only more intense, more demanding,” he said. “With the [current] schedule, it’s enough. But we don’t decide. It is what it is, and we must shut up…I mean, teams and organisation decide. So, you take it or you leave. It is what it is.”

Marquez drew attention last weekend in Japan when he shunned a pre-race karting event to rest up ahead of the grand prix. Given the news that followed a few days later, one has to wonder if this protest has a deeper meaning now.

Pedro Acosta commented that riders are likely to face shorter careers now because of the added strain - and the greater risk - they face from having two qualifying sessions across 22 rounds a year.

Several safety issues were raised by riders on Thursday about the new format. The first was the chaos likely to arise from 22 riders pushing for a qualifying lap over a 15-minute period. IRTA (International Race Teams’ Association) president and LCR boss Lucio Cecchinello revealed that only one tyre will be permitted for the sprint qualifying.

That will likely lead to more issues if everyone has a very short window to get the ultimate lap time out of their one tyre; around tracks like Sachsenring and Jerez, the chaos doesn’t bear thinking about.

Then there is the removal of warm-up. Some riders are in favour. But there is a massive safety element to this decision. If you’ve had a crash or a technical issue in the sprint, the next time you ride the bike is the 10-minute warm-up session on Sunday morning. If any problems arise then, you have a few hours to work on them.

Now, riders will be experiencing their repaired machines in the extra 10 minutes of sighting laps they will have. These won’t be at full pelt, either. Both Luca Marini and Toprak Razgatlioglu highlighted rules around fuelling, which is banned on the grid. Marini suggested riders would use their second bikes mostly for these sighting laps to avoid burning fuel.

Not every rider was against the idea. Pecco Bagnaia gave it a thumbs up, while Marco Bezzecchi was all smiles when asked about it in the press conference. Fabio Quartararo said it was “not a problem” to have an extra qualifying session, but felt it would be better to have longer practices to be able to better understand your bike for the weekend ahead.

Like with any big change, there will be an adjustment period before it eventually blends into the natural run of things. But, once again, it raises the wider issue of the value placed on the riders and how little impact they actually have on proceedings.

This is of their own making. While the teams and the manufacturers have their seat at the table, the riders remain without a genuine union. The closest thing they have to it is the Safety Commission, which is no longer fit for purpose.

Bagnaia said on Thursday that only four riders turned up to the safety commission meeting in Japan where the new format was discussed. All present agreed with it. Fabio Di Giannantonio said he has stopped going because “it was really difficult to get promises on things that we were trying to ask”.

The riders aren’t ignored in the safety commission, but the buck certainly doesn’t seem to stop with them. That shouldn’t be the way, given they are the ones risking their lives for the business. F1’s Grand Prix Drivers’ Association has remained intact and continues to be an effective body.

Di Giannantonio says the riders were “quite close” to forming an association at one point, but there wasn’t a consensus on it. Maverick Vinales gave a slightly more worrying version of events: “I don’t know, I just always felt that if you tried it, you got in trouble. So, it was better to just say nothing and just ride.”

As the GPDA proves, the championship wouldn’t be able to disband a sanctioned riders’ union if enough of them forced the issue. But therein lies the problem. That was illustrated perfectly in Thursday’s press conference in an exchange between Aprilia team-mates Jorge Martin and Marco Bezzecchi.

“It is what it is. There’s nothing we can do until we are, let’s say, not united… it’s not that I like or not the schedule,” Martin said. “I’m curious, and it will be interesting. But I feel they don’t even ask us. It would be nice from the organisation to have some interest for the riders.”

Bezzecchi then said: “I like the schedule, so I can’t complain,” to which Martin replied: “Exactly.”

For as long as that divide remains, the riders are forever at the mercy of whatever MotoGP and Liberty decide for them…