MotoGP plans two qualifying sessions per weekend for 2027 following the F1 model

– The officials of the MotoGP class, as the premier class of the Motorcycle World Championship, plan to hold two qualifying sessions on each weekend in the future, following the example of Formula 1 – one for the Grand Prix on Sunday and one for the sprint on Saturday. Our colleagues from Motorsport.com Spain, a sister platform of Motorsport-Total.com within the Motorsport Network, have learned this.

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The initiative has already been discussed in dialogue between the organizer, teams, and manufacturers. It is expected that the proposal will receive the green light in the coming days so that it can be introduced for the MotoGP season 2027.

The proposal is the format that Formula 1 uses on race weekends with sprints. There will be ten sprints in the 2027 Formula 1 calendar, after there are six sprints in the current 2026 season.

Although the measure has apparently been positively received by most involved in the MotoGP paddock, including both teams and manufacturers, the process to include it in the regulations still has to go through the appropriate procedural steps. Before this happens, the schedule for each race weekend must be finalized.

According to information from Motorsport.com Spain, the main difference between the Formula 1 and MotoGP models will be that the sprint at MotoGP weekends will continue to take place on Saturday afternoon as usual. In Formula 1, the short race on weekends with a sprint format already takes place on Saturday morning. Saturday afternoon is reserved for qualifying for the Grand Prix.

At the same time, Motorsport.com Spain has learned that one of the parties active in the MotoGP paddock is pushing to split the qualifying sessions into three segments (Q1, Q2, and Q3) in the future. This would mean that the format would follow the one used in Formula 1 and no longer the current MotoGP qualifying format with two segments (Q1 and Q2).

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It is worth mentioning that it was precisely in Spielberg, where the Austrian Grand Prix takes place on Sunday, that the intention to introduce sprints in the MotoGP calendar was first announced four years ago – a step that Formula 1 had already implemented for the 2021 season.

Unlike four-wheel Grand Prix racing, where initially three sprints per season were decided before the number was gradually increased in the following seasons, the decision for the MotoGP World Championship was to standardize the format and make sprints a fixed part of every race weekend starting in 2023.

Interestingly, this decision was made three years before the completion of the takeover of Dorna Sports, the holder of the commercial MotoGP rights, by Liberty Media. The takeover deal was finally sealed in mid-2025.

Regarding the sprints introduced in 2023, the MotoGP riders have pointed out the high stress and risk they have had to deal with since then. They only have one free practice on Friday morning before going into practice. This Friday afternoon practice already determines the split as to which ten riders advance directly to the second qualifying segment (Q2) and which riders must first compete in the Q1 segment.

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