MotoGP world champion a warning for Formula 1?

In MotoGP, Jorge Martin became the new world champion in Barcelona, a world champion who did not even accumulate the most points in the Grands Prix. This is how the MotoGP championship is a lesson and a warning for F1.

MotoGP, like Formula 1, has sprint races. In the sprint race, roughly half the number of points can be scored. The Saturday sprint race is logically shorter as well. Unlike F1, however, MotoGP holds these sprint races every race weekend during the 20-race season.

With Martin, this weekend marked the first time a champion was crowned who did not score the most points in Grands Prix. Namely, that was title rival Francesco 'Pecco' Bagnaia. He won 11 of the 20 Grands Prix, scored more points than Martin in the Grands Prix, but doesn't have the title at the end of the season.

MotoGP model for F1?

That was because Martin was extremely consistent, fell less and, above all, scored many more points in sprint races than his rival. Martin won seven sprint races and finished on the podium a further 10 times. Enough to eventually beat Bagnaia by ten points in the battle for the world championship.

For Formula 1, where drivers and fans still seem to favour the real Grand Prix, this could also be a warning not to turn all weekends into sprint weekends. A similar scenario could then unfold in F1.

However, Martin's world title is also a good example for F1. Martin became a World Champion as part of Prima Pramac Racing, a customer team of the Italian Ducati. Marc Marquez even finished third in the championship for Gresini Racing MotoGP, a customer team using a 2023 engine from Ducati.

This article has been created in collaboration with Matt Gretton