The trust issue created by MotoGP’s stewards that must be fixed

“It’s unanimous – every rider in the safety commission isn’t happy. I know it’s not easy, but what we don’t feel comfortable with is that it’s always different. They aren’t always equal with the same actions.”

These were the words of Aprilia’s Aleix Espargaro, and the ‘they’ he is referring to is MotoGP’s FIM stewards panel – back in August of 2020. Circumstances: the more that things change, the more they stay the same. Indeed, as MotoGP embarked on its new era last weekend at the Portuguese Grand Prix with its new-for-2023 sprint format, the headlines of the weekend are being dominated by controversies.

Riders and the FIM stewards panel have had a fractious relationship for several years now, which isn’t really surprising when you consider its genesis is in one of the series’ most controversial incidents. It was formed after the fallout of Valentino Rossi and Marc Marquez’s infamous clash at Sepang in 2015, when the pair fell out spectacularly pre-weekend over championship sabotage allegations levied at the Honda rider by Rossi before colliding on track in the grand prix.

Marquez and Honda were furious, claiming Rossi had kicked Marquez. Fans felt race direction’s decision to award Rossi a back-of-the-grid start for the season-finale and title decider in Valencia was Dorna – a Spanish company – showing clear favouritism to Spanish riders. The entire episode was messy and dampened what was, to that point, one of MotoGP’s finest ever seasons.

In the wake of this, the FIM removed incident judging out of the sole control of race director Mike Webb’s hands and created the stewards panel, which was formed of three individuals whose purpose was to analyse incidents and determine punishments – allowing race direction to get on with its primary function of managing on-track sessions.

Since 2019, the stewards panel has been helmed by double 500cc world champion Freddie Spencer. It was a move that was welcomed by the field when this was announced in 2018, but that quickly changed. Since then, it seems as if MotoGP riders have been trapped in a time loop, complaining constantly about the lack of consistency in stewarding.

As this continues, trust begins to erode, and as MotoGP began the 2023 season this appears to be at an all-time low. That’s worrying when you consider there are 20 rounds still ahead of us and 40 races.