Marc Marquez criticized MotoGP’s 2027 format, said it added risk and stress
NXTbets Pro | Published On: October 8, 2026
Weekend format criticism
Marc Marquez ripped MotoGP’s new weekend format and said it would raise the stakes for riders. He said the change added more risk and mental stress and would be more intense and more demanding. The revised structure adds a 15-minute qualifying session on Friday to set the sprint grid, keeps Grand Prix qualifying on Saturday and removes the Sunday warm-up.
Marquez said riders got little information about the plan and had no role in deciding it. He said riders “must shut up” because they had no say in the change and added, “you accept it or you leave.” Marquez said the issue was bigger than one schedule tweak. In his view, the new format asked more of riders earlier.
Riders’ association outlook
Marquez also backed Pedro Acosta’s view that the new format will shorten careers. He agreed that more pressure on riders across the weekend will take a toll over time. That point fit the larger criticism Marquez laid out, which centered on the loss of rider control. He said the sport is making decisions that riders do not make, then asking them to absorb the consequences on track. He wants more say in changes that affect safety, workload and the length of a rider’s career.
He also looked ahead to how riders may eventually respond. Marquez said a riders’ association similar to Formula 1 would probably emerge at some point. He did not expect that to happen during his own career. The point underscored how little influence he believes riders have right now. Marquez’s stance was blunt. He treated the format change as part of a wider pattern in which riders are asked to accept major adjustments without being part of the decision-making process.
Marquez’s Mandalika struggle
Marquez arrived at Mandalika second in the standings, two points behind Jorge Martin. He said the first half of his season had been difficult because of injuries and operations after Marco Bezzecchi hit him last year. Recent bike setup changes have made him feel better, but that improvement has not changed his history at the Indonesian venue. Marquez said Mandalika “has not been kind to him,” and the results back that up. He was still chasing his first finish at the Indonesian Grand Prix after four previous appearances in Indonesia produced no Sunday points.
His record there has been rough from the start. He missed one Indonesian Grand Prix because of concussion. On another visit, he crashed out of both races. He later suffered an engine failure after finishing third in the sprint. The most recent trip was another setback. Marquez qualified ninth at Mandalika and finished sixth in the sprint before Bezzecchi took him out on the opening lap of the Grand Prix, leaving him with shoulder injuries. The pattern has made Mandalika one of the toughest stops on the calendar for him. Even with his standing near the front of the championship, the track has kept its grip on him.
