A MotoGP rider insists their contracts are more secure than F1 drivers' deals

Jorge Martin’s potential bombshell split from Aprilia at the end of the 2025 season has raised questions about the strength of MotoGP contracts.

Following the French Grand Prix, a bombshell report emerged stating reigning world champion Jorge Martin is looking to break his contract with Aprilia to pursue a potential factory Honda switch in 2026.

Martin, who has only ridden in one race weekend this season due to numerous injuries, is reported to be trying to enact a performance clause in his contract that stipulates he can leave if a certain results threshold hasn’t been reached.

It is thought the deadline for that threshold to be met was the French GP, though there have been reports that Martin has been open to extending that deadline to the San Marino GP in September.

On Thursday at the British Grand Prix, Aprilia released a statement denying that there have been any negotiations to this effect and that contract must be honoured through to the end of 2026.

Contract protection has been a topic of discussion in recent years, particularly around riders in the lower classes having deals ended during the season without any chance to fight their corner from a legal standpoint.

The F1 example MotoGP isn’t following, according to one rider

Formula 1 has a contract recognition board in place to ensure the legality of deals, which recently helped Oscar Piastri sign for McLaren for 2023 having originally been announced by Alpine as one of its drivers.

While this aims to stop drivers being unfairly treated, the 2025 season has seen two mid-season driver changes happen already: Liam Lawson, who was ousted from Red Bull after just two rounds, and Jack Doohan has now been moved aside at Alpine in favour of Franco Colapinto.

Last year, Logan Sargeant was removed from his Williams seat for Colapinto from the Italian GP onwards.

While MotoGP doesn’t have a contract board, LCR rider Johann Zarco sees this as a good thing.

When crash.net asked Zarco and Marc Marquez on Thursday at the British Grand Prix if MotoGP contracts offer enough protection from riders, they replied: “I’m happy that at the moment in motorbikes it’s not happening like it is in Formula 1. So, I hope we can keep this kind of thing as long as possible,” Zarco said.

Marquez added: “For me, if you have a professional team around me - that means manager and team - you are protected enough.”

In an exclusive interview with Crash after the press conference, Zarco elaborated on his F1 comment.

“I hear things, about the Doohan situation,” he began.

“I heard when I was sharing some information with another driver that almost he [Doohan] arrived there almost for political reasons, not really because of results, and he will be kicked away.

“And this was during the winter. That was strange. Now in MotoGP, when a rider catches their position it’s because they deserve it, like [Ai] Ogura, world champion [in Moto2].

“He signed in MotoGP and from the first race he is with the top guys in MotoGP and that, for me, that’s a reason that he’s there.

“There are some riders who maybe can stay in the category because of low salaries. So, it’s a good opportunity for the brand, because maybe they are not exceptional but good riders enough to perform.

“At least they don’t cost a lot for a team. These are still things that some riders complain about, but at least the level of everyone is still good.

“And because of this, they can’t be kicked away and bring someone else in.

“And we also know that because having someone else, it will be tough for them to be fast.

“I like this in MotoGP and I hope that we can keep that. And it’s good that we can show that if you don’t understand MotoGP you cannot do it.

“If they knew Jack wouldn’t do well in F1, why sign him? It seems so random. They can put a guy of 18 years old in a car and it can work. In MotoGP, luckily, it’s tough enough not to be able to do that.”

Zarco elected to quit his KTM contract a year early back in 2019, but was due to see out the season until the marque elected to remove him with immediate effect after the San Marino GP.

The Frenchman eventually signed for Avintia Ducati for 2020, but that also led to Karel Abraham having his contract for that season terminated to make way for Zarco.