MotoGP can’t adopt F1’s approach to technical rules, claims one team boss

Yamaha MotoGP boss Paolo Pavesio says maintaining the five-year rules cycle is “the minimum condition” for sustainability in the championship as opposed to Formula 1’s approach.

MotoGP currently operates to a five-year cycle, where all teams sign up with the championship to compete under contract and the technical regulations remain stable.

While this, in theory, should keep development costs down, that hasn’t proven the case in practice in recent years due to aero and ride height device advancements.

The quality of the racing has also suffered as a result of this, with a reset on the regulations to limit aero and ride height devices not coming until the new rules cycle in 2027.

In F1, major technical overhauls are also confined to cycles, with the next big change coming in 2026 following the series’ move to ground effect rules in 2022.

But within regulation periods, F1 has also outlawed certain things, altered rules and closed down loopholes in the interest of the show.

MotoGP must stay separate from F1 technical regs

With Liberty Media now owning MotoGP as well as F1, team bosses were asked recently if this is something that could become common in the two-wheeled series in the coming years.

“At the end, if you consider all of the parts involved in building this show, the ones who are investing the most are the manufacturers,” Pavesio said.

“So, stable rules are a needed foundation to keep investing and to build the show.

“Of course, we have already in place with the MSMA the possibility to fine-tune rules.

“But the five-year platform I think, at least to Yamaha, is the minimum condition to have the sustainability of investment.

“And of course, we are all normally open. I try to say we are always colleagues when we design the rules and competitors when we are on track.

“So, we need to keep this spirit to secure the sport wins and also what we need to invest is sustainable.

“We have a positive example, I believe, in the way the new rules have been designed but also how the concessions have been allowed to help manufacturers to catch up.

“So, I really hope we will not enter into a too quick loop of change because we also need to be very aware that, yes, there are a lot of similarities with F1 as a sport.

“But the budget that is available in cars and motorcycles is very different.”