It’s a grand idea that has been floated before, but with Liberty Media set to acquire Dorna by the end of 2024, could Formula 1 and MotoGP be held on a joint weekend? It’s a crazy idea that seems a little less crazy now than at the start of the year.
Liberty released a statement on April 1, April Fool’s Day, but this was no joke. The American media company, owner of F1 since 2017, has set out to acquire MotoGP and World SuperBikes parent company Dorna in a deal worth $4 billion. Liberty’s focus will be on expanding MotoGP’s global reach via new markets, new fans and a heightened approach to digital media.
In simpler terms, the strategy it has employed to turn F1 into a mainstream global success. However, the imaginative people in the motorsport community have speculated the groundwork has been laid for a mega motorsport event where F1 and MotoGP take place at the same time and venue.
Is this really something that could be on the cards? In the present moment, the party line is that it’s unlikely. Dorna’s Sporting Director Carlos Ezpeleta downplayed the likelihood of a joint F1/MotoGP extravaganza, telling Motorsport.com’s Spanish MotoGP podcast that it’s “something that at the moment, for obvious reasons, is not in the immediate plans.
“It’s not something that we are working on, but it’s not something that we are ruling out for the medium-term future either,” he added. “But having said that, the reality is that it makes limited sense, because at the end of the day we have some events with our own fan base, which is a different fan base in most places to the Formula 1 fan base. They sell, they sell out in many circuits and so do we, so getting all of us together in the same event, in the same weekend, has difficulties and the return on investment is not very clear today.
“Then you also have problems with the different sponsors, the TV cameras, so it is a project, or it would be a rather complicated project, let’s say. Then again, there are a number of circuits that can run both [series], but there are not so many, so it is a project that is not discarded, but we are not working on it either.”
Not “in the immediate plans,” but also “not discarded.” So, you’re saying there’s a chance? In the circumstance where the somewhat extraordinary was to occur, what circuit would be suitable to hold such an event? Arguably, two circuits fit the bill.
The first is Silverstone and there are several reasons why the British Grand Prix venue would suit hosting F1 and MotoGP on the same weekend.
Firstly, it’s sheer size. The Northamptonshire-based circuit is an impressive 3.666 miles long, spread out over an airfield that takes just shy of an hour to walk around the perimeter. Secondly, Silverstone has two pit-lane/paddock complexes, meaning the MotoGP paddock could be housed at the old start-finish straight on the run down to Copse and F1 could remain in the modern Wing complex. Finally, it’s no secret that MotoGP attendance at Silverstone needs a shot in the arm. F1 comparatively dwarfs the series in terms of audience numbers year on year.
The 2023 F1 British GP had the second-highest four-day attendance in the series’ history, 480,000. MotoGP, in comparison, attracted 115,959 spectators to Silverstone in 2023.
If Liberty wanted to boost MotoGP’s fandom in Great Britain, then a combined weekend could help motivate four-wheeled motorsport fans to look fondly on two wheels as well as its four-wheel counterpart.
A second and altogether more likely venue given Liberty will likely seek to push MotoGP to American audiences is the Circuit of the Americas in Austin, Texas.
Another wildly popular F1 venue and like Silverstone, one with a massive footprint. Also like Silverstone, COTA has a history of hosting MotoGP so is no stranger to the particular demands of hosting two-wheeled racing. If Liberty is set on boosting MotoGP’s popularity in the U.S. then it couldn’t go far wrong with sharing an event with F1 at a circuit that helped popularise four-wheeled Grand Prix racing in the United States.
Still, as Ezpeleta said, F1 holds sellout crowds and COTA is no exception, serving over 400,000 spectators year on year. So would there be room for MotoGP and F1 fans to mingle together on the same weekend? Probably not.
Putting the idea of a joint F1/MotoGP weekend aside, the future of two-wheeled Grand Prix motorcycle racing is full of intrigue.
Traditionalists and gatekeepers may baulk at the idea of Liberty wading into MotoGP territory, but fans of motorcycle racing deserve their loved racing product to be recognised on the world stage, out of F1’s shadow. This latest move could do just that.
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