Alex Marquez: MotoGP hurting future of young riders with punishing format

Alex Marquez has called on MotoGP to better protect its younger riders, warning that efforts to improve the spectacle have also increased the risk of injuries.

The Gresini rider made that comment during last weekend’s Australian Grand Prix, where six of the 22 full-time riders were declared unfit to race, including four due to injuries.

His remarks also came amid mixed reactions to MotoGP’s new sporting format for 2027, which would feature two separate qualifying sessions at each round.

Riders are also being asked to devote more time to promotional activities, with MotoGP recently warning that failing to attend such events could result in fines and sporting penalties.

While Marquez has himself missed several races due to fractures he sustained to his collarbone and vertebrae in Barcelona, injuries that continue to affect his performance, he said he is more worried about the long-term consequences for younger riders who represent the championship’s future.

“What they are asking the riders to do on track is a little bit too much,” the Spaniard commented. “I'm talking just [about] on-track [sessions]. It's a lot of risk on track.

“Every time we are [going] faster and faster, every time the quantity of laps that you are pushing on the limit is bigger because they also changed the format to make more [of a] show, but more [of a] show is also more risks.

“The time they introduced the sprint, the injuries increased. I'm 30. I will not be affected. I will retire one year later or earlier. But the young people like Fermin [Aldeguer] and [Pedro] Acosta are who the championship really needs to take care about because they are 20 and with this quantity of races and sprints, it will be complicated for them.

“They need to think about creating heroes but heroes in the long term, not just in a short time.”

Alex Marquez, Gresini Racing

Photo by: Gold and Goose Photography / Getty Images

When MotoGP introduced the sprint format in 2023, it opted to stage half-distance races at every single round. This marked a departure from Formula 1, which restricts sprints to select rounds, although it has progressively increased the number from three in 2021 to 10 next year.

Asked how many sprint races he would like to see in a season, Marquez said: “Half. The perfect would be like six, like Formula 1 [in 2026], more or less.”

Of the 22 full-time riders on the grid, 10 riders have been affected by injuries during the season. That figure includes both Raul Fernandez and Jorge Martin, who were both declared unfit for the Australian GP before the race was cancelled. Joan Mir is not included, as the Honda rider missed the last three rounds due to illness rather than injury.

Further, Honda test rider Takaaki Nakagami was also injured in Japan while competing as a wildcard.

The last time the entire grid raced together was at the Brazilian Grand Prix back in March.

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