Background: What Raul Fernandez staying at Trackhouse depends on

– Although Raul Fernandez started the 2026 MotoGP season with the same momentum with which he ended the last one, he still does not have a single offer for his future. For several months, Fernandez has seemed changed. The 25-year-old Spaniard appears significantly more consistent on the track and more mature off it, especially in dealing with the media.

Read more Formula 1 weather 2026: The current forecasts for Shanghai

In the 2025 season, his best since his promotion to the premier class, Fernandez made steady progress. The highlight was the final four rounds of the season, where he achieved one victory and two podium finishes. This late surge helped him to a top-10 finish in the final 2025 MotoGP overall standings, as the second-best Aprilia rider.

Fernandez achieved all this despite a crash on the penultimate race weekend of the season. In Portimao, he injured his left shoulder and was subsequently unable to compete in the Portuguese Grand Prix on Sunday. The effects of this injury were evident again at the 2026 season opener in Buriram (Thailand), specifically during the warm-up on Sunday morning.

TV images showed that Fernandez was in significant pain in that same left shoulder after an awkward movement. Nevertheless, three hours later, the Trackhouse rider managed to finish in third place again, repeating the position he had already achieved in the sprint the day before. With the championship points collected, Fernandez is currently in third place in the 2026 MotoGP overall standings – nine points behind leader Pedro Acosta.

Both Acosta and Marco Bezzecchi – the two riders ahead of him in the overall standings – already have their futures secured, namely with Ducati and Aprilia respectively. However, this does not apply to Fernandez, who, despite his obvious improvement in performance, does not yet have any concrete offers for 2027.

“I am very calm and just focusing on doing my job. I have my manager Paco [Sanchez], who takes care of everything regarding my future. In recent months, I have stopped worrying about things I cannot control,” Fernandez told Motorsport.com Spain, a sister platform of Motorsport-Total.com in the Motorsport Network.

“Both Davide (Trackhouse team principal Davide Brivio; editor’s note) and Paco helped me a lot to find my focus in the final phase of 2025. Now I no longer worry about what conditions others have and I don’t. I just focus on exploiting the potential of my conditions to 100 percent,” says Fernandez.

Read more Cadillac debut in Melbourne: Sergio Perez hits milestone

Despite his obvious composure, the prospects for one of the nine Spaniards in the 22-rider MotoGP starting field in 2026 are not easy. The proportion of Spaniards is unusually high in the eyes of MotoGP promoter Liberty Media, as they want to make the motorcycle world championship even more popular globally through a greater diversity of nationalities.

“It hasn’t been easy for Raul since his arrival in the MotoGP class. First at Tech3 (2022), where he had a very difficult time and even had to pay compensation to KTM to terminate his contract. Then he ended up at RNF (2023), where unpaid salaries and poor management only caused more insecurity and uncertainty,” a source close to the Trackhouse rider told Motorsport.com Spain.

Fernandez is now in his third season with the US team, where he has finally found the stability that allows him to show his best form. “This stability allows me to be the rider I was when I entered the Moto2 World Championship and caught everyone’s attention there,” Fernandez recalls, trying to stay away from a rider market that has gained momentum in recent days – although he currently seems to be receiving little attention there.

Should the transfers for the 2027 MotoGP season, which are already as good as decided, actually take place, the options for Fernandez could be limited. The expected signing of Francesco Bagnaia would close the door to a possible promotion to the Aprilia factory team. Yamaha seems more interested in bringing Luca Marini into the factory team as a teammate for Jorge Martin. A move to Pramac also seems unlikely for Fernandez.

Honda has fully committed to Fabio Quartararo, and even Joan Mir is not yet certain of his place for 2027. VR46 and Gresini, as Ducati satellite teams, are taking a different direction and are focusing primarily on rookies with a view to the start of the 850cc era.

Against this background, it would only be logical for Raul Fernandez to extend his contract with Trackhouse. However, Motorsport.com Spain has learned that team owner Justin Marks is seriously considering selling shares in the team – a measure that could influence the final decision on the rider line-up.

Read more Formula 1 Live Ticker: Is the «new» Formula 1 too dangerous?