MotoGP has confirmed that every 2027 race weekend will use separate qualifying sessions for the Sprint and Grand Prix, with Friday’s new 15-minute session setting the Sprint grid and Saturday qualifying deciding the main-race order. The revised timetable also removes Sunday morning warm-up, a change that has prompted sharply different responses from leading riders ahead of the Indonesian Grand Prix.
The championship said the new arrangement will produce two grids each weekend from next season. Friday will consist of a 45-minute first practice, a 30-minute second practice and Sprint qualifying. Saturday will begin with a 20-minute third practice before Grand Prix Q1 and Q2, followed by the Sprint race. The Grand Prix grid will come from Saturday qualifying, rather than the Friday session.
Under the revised Saturday structure, every rider will enter Q1 and the quickest 12 will progress to Q2. That replaces the present approach in which Friday Practice helps determine which riders advance directly to Q2. Autosport reported that the new Sprint qualifying will last 15 minutes, while both Saturday Q1 and Q2 will also run for 15 minutes.
How MotoGP weekends will change
The important practical difference is that riders will now have two occasions to fight specifically for grid position. Friday’s result will determine where they start the Saturday Sprint, while Saturday’s sessions will establish the order for the full-distance Grand Prix.
MotoGP’s official preview said the format would create two different grids. The change also separates Friday practice from the process of deciding access to Q2, since the former Friday cut-off system will disappear.
| Day | 2027 MotoGP schedule |
|---|---|
| Friday | FP1, FP2, 15-minute Sprint qualifying |
| Saturday | FP3, Q1, Q2, Sprint race |
| Sunday | No warm-up; Grand Prix grid based on Saturday qualifying |
The Sunday warm-up will be replaced by a 10-minute period in which the pit lane opens before the race, enabling riders to complete sighting laps through the pit lane. That is not the same as a timed warm-up session: the new window is intended for pre-race laps rather than normal running on track.
The confirmed programme therefore adds a distinct qualifying session on Friday but reduces conventional practice. The competitive significance is straightforward: a rider who misses the mark on Friday can still improve their Grand Prix starting position on Saturday, but must complete another high-pressure lap-time session during the same weekend.
Riders split over workload and consultation
Francesco Bagnaia has supported the principle of two qualifying sessions. According to Autosport, the Ducati rider said competitors had long wanted separate qualifying opportunities after Sprint races were introduced, although he would have preferred Sunday warm-up to remain. He also pointed to low rider attendance at Safety Commission meetings when discussing how much influence riders had exerted.
Pedro Acosta took the opposite view. He said the additional session, alongside 22 Sprint races in the proposed calendar, would make an already demanding schedule tougher. The KTM rider also questioned removing warm-up, arguing that it offered an opportunity to check both bike and rider condition after a Saturday crash. His comments represented his assessment of the possible risk, rather than evidence that the rule change will produce a particular outcome.
Alex Marquez similarly said riders had received limited input and argued that the format would add more moments of risk. Marc Marquez said the issue had again highlighted the absence of a united body representing MotoGP riders’ collective interests. He said he expected such an association eventually to be formed, but did not present it as an imminent development.
The disagreement is therefore not over whether the format is happening: MotoGP has confirmed it for 2027. It is over whether two qualifying sessions and less practice will improve the event for competitors and spectators, or place too much additional pressure on riders across a 22-round season.