Guenther Steiner’s ‘one step back, two steps forward’ theory for 850cc MotoGP era

MotoGP’s new 850cc technical formula will be “a little bit of a step back to make two forward”, according to Tech3 KTM boss Guenther Steiner.

Former Haas F1 team principal Steiner is halfway through his first season as CEO of the Red Bull KTM Tech3 team after taking over the running of the team from Herve Poncharal at the end of last season.

It’s been a tough campaign in 2026 for Tech3, mostly due to the situation with Maverick Vinales, whose shoulder injury sustained in July 2025 is still yet to fully recover and whose public scolding of KTM became more substantial as the season progressed towards the summer break.

Vinales was replaced by Pol Espargaro at the British MotoGP last weekend, and looks to be out of a ride for 2027, when the new 850cc regulations will debut.

One of the hopes of the new regulations is that they will make the racing better by reducing the amount of aerodynamics and removing ride height devices, which should put more control in the hands of the riders and also lessen the stress on the front tyre in particular, which has become increasingly critical since minimum tyre pressures became more rigorously enforced in 2023.

Steiner himself doesn’t think the racing in MotoGP is that bad at the moment, but he does think the new bikes will be a step forward over the current 1,000cc machines overall.

“I think the racing is pretty exciting now, most of the time,” Steiner said on Friday at the British Grand Prix.

“You get the odd race where you can say it could be a little bit better, but I think it’s quite exciting. 

“I think what [the 850cc bikes] will put in there is that we make a little bit of a step back to make two forward towards racing. 

“A little bit less power, a little bit less aerodynamics, and I think that will happen. 

“The riders tell me they are handling nice, they have control over it, and that’s the most important thing.”

At the moment it’s not entirely clear whose 850cc MotoGP bike will be the strongest in 2027. Steiner himself thinks that waiting until the start of next season will be necessary to completely understand the hierarchy in the championship’s new era, despite the continuous rumours floating around at the moment suggesting one manufacturer or another is best placed for next year.

“At the moment it sounds like we’re going to have five world champions next year because all the testing is going fantastic for everyone,” Steiner joked.

“But that is normal, I’m in motorsport long enough. It’s the same at the beginning of the season – ‘We’re in a good way, we’re really good’. 

“You are really good until someone is better than you. 

“I think testing, in general, is going well for everyone. You hear sometimes, or people think they know sometimes, but I’m doing this long enough that I take it with a pinch of salt. 

“As long as the bike, they get the laps in, they make the testing, and they learn out of it, the tyres and all that stuff, they got data – I’m happy. 

“Then, how competitive each manufacturer will be, the only way to find out will be to wait until next year.”