A flat Austrian Grand Prix has prompted six-time MotoGP champion Marc Marquez to say the championship risks leaving it “too late” with its planned racing revamp – as he lamented it moving “the opposite way” to Formula 1.
MotoGP’s next era of regulations is set to kick in in 2027, as the participating manufacturers’ current deals with the series promoter run out at the end of 2026.
Italian outlet GPOne suggested earlier this week that a major reduction in speed – through a lower engine capacity – was on the agenda, as is, predictably, what will be done about the aerodynamics, ride height devices (which are banned on the front of bikes as of this year but still allowed on the rear) and electronic aids.
Marquez has long been a vocal critic of both MotoGP’s aero evolution and the ride height adjustors.
And in the aftermath of an Austrian Grand Prix in which reigning champion Pecco Bagnaia won by five seconds and overtaking action was relatively limited – at least by the standards of a track that has produced several MotoGP classics in its soon-to-be-decade on the calendar – Marquez said: “I already said two-three-four years ago [that the racing was starting to suffer] – but the people then say, ‘no, some people are against the aerodynamic things, the other people are in favour’, and then if you say something then the people say, ‘no [it’s] because you cannot adapt to these aerodynamics’.
“You can adapt in the end. But the actual MotoGP, you [your results now] depend much more about your bike. Because if you don’t have the aerodynamics, if you don’t have the traction, but especially many, many things about the technical side, then you depend much more from that.
“And then to attack, to overtake riders, becomes more and more difficult, and it’s easy: it becomes like Formula 1.”
Aerodynamics in particular has been a clearly evident area where Marquez’s employer Honda has struggled relative to European-based rival manufacturers – hence Marquez being keen to point out that the motivation behind his criticism was not based in the competitive order.
He continued: “And Formula 1 [is] going the opposite way, looks like less downforce and less effect about the aero.”
This is in reference to the new ground effect era regulations, which were introduced in 2022 and were specifically designed to minimise the impact of aero on the racing – which seemed to have largely paid off last year, although year-on-year development by F1 teams since seems to have mitigated those gains when it comes to the quality and frequency of battles.
“We are going in the opposite way – every time bigger, bigger, bigger,” said Marquez, referencing the increasingly bulky aerodynamic devices that have popped up not just on the front fairing but the sides of the various bikes and their rear seat units.
“Looks like in 2027 we change, but it’s too late.
“Three years like this, the problem is [we’re] going to have more and more and more downforce.”
MotoGP is limited in what changes it can push through before that, given rule changes – unless brought in on safety grounds – require the approval of every participating manufacturer.
Any sort of aero ban or limitation until then would be an extremely hard sell for the likes of Ducati and Aprilia, which have pioneered much of the development, and KTM, which has invested so heavily to catch up after having previously pushed for aero restrictions.
