‘Not a lack of will’: Why is Silverstone MotoGP so unpopular compared to its F1 GP?

The Formula 1 and MotoGP races at Silverstone present a huge contrast in terms of popularity, but it’s not for a “lack of will”, according to Guenther Steiner.

Silverstone’s F1 race pulled in close to 600,000 fans in 2026, but by comparison its MotoGP race has struggled. 

2025 was a year of decline for spectator numbers at the British MotoGP and only 99,328 people attended. 

A mathematical genius is not required to calculate from those numbers that the F1 race at the Northamptonshire track is around six-times more popular than the MotoGP race. Of course, we don’t have MotoGP’s 2026 attendance figures yet, since the race hasn't happened, but the record 600,000 people that showed up to F1 earlier in July did so in a year where the enthusiasm around F1’s racing is at one of its lowest points.

It must be said that MotoGP’s racing over recent seasons has hardly generated much enthusiasm either, with tyre pressures, aerodynamics, and ride height devices all contributing to spread-out contests with few overtakes.

But perhaps the F1 numbers are simply yet another indicator that the success of a race, in terms of its attendance, has little to do with the expected quality of the racing.

The cultural impact of the event is now the key selling point, which is why MotoGP will race in Buenos Aires and Adelaide next year rather than Termas de Rio Hondo and Phillip Island.

But Silverstone has shown, through its F1 race, that a traditional circuit stuck miles away from any city centre and built around a windy old airfield can still be one of the biggest annual events in the world.

So, why can’t that work for MotoGP? Former F1 team principal and current Red Bull KTM Tech3 CEO Guenther Steiner thinks the problem isn’t with the event itself, rather that the popularity of MotoGP in the UK is simply not strong enough at the moment to draw in hundreds-of-thousands of fans over three days.

“I don't think they treat them differently,” Steiner said of Silverstone’s F1 and MotoGP races.

“It's just like, F1, you cannot promote anything at the moment, you know. If you put on an F1 race here [Sachsenring], you'll have half a million people. It's one of those things. 

“Obviously, the promoter always can help you promote the race, you know, to make it public, but I think we just need to create, in general, more interest in the UK for MotoGP. It's one of those things. 

“Obviously, Silverstone can help. Can they do more? You always can do more. I've got a good relationship with Stuart Pringle, and they are trying to do it, but it's not easy. 

“I think in F1, at the moment, if you do no promotion, you still have got a full house, because it's a moving sport [...] and this one needs some help. So, obviously, I think they try to help.

“We are doing, I think, some stuff. Thursday [press conference in London], things like this. They are doing it, you know. 

“They are trying to bring it forward. That is the only thing you can try to do. 

“I don't think it's a lack of will. It's not [about] not trying to make it happen, because it's important for Silverstone to be the MotoGP race.”