First and foremost, an apology. It’s been so long since I last did this, but a month on social media covering the Isle of Man TT, Le Mans, the Indy 500 and more meant everything I wanted to do from a written perspective got pushed back and that sucks for you guys. So thankfully I can say – Welcome back to Ask Dre, the show where you, the wonderful (and very patient) Motorsport101 audience ask me a bunch of questions about Formula 1, MotoGP, IndyCar, and beyond.
In this month’s edition, a lot of silly season talk in F1, F2 and IndyCar, the Madring’s presence on the calendar, and Jorge Martin’s (lack of) concussion checks. Enjoy!
With the look that most F1 academy’s seem pretty hopeless to have upward mobility to the big show from F2 this year. Do you see much driver market shuffling going into 2027? – KnorTheDragon
I’m inclined to agree with you here Knor. As I’ve been saying for sometime. F1 driver academies aren’t so much about getting people into F1, they’re more about hoarding resources so other teams can’t use them against you. I hate comparing younger drivers to cattle, but that’s what it feels like sometimes.
And this isn’t a great time to be a younger driver. We had a strong set of F2 drivers in 2025, but only one graduate made the field in Arvid Lindblad, who Red Bull had penciled in from his Age 16 F3 season so bad, they literally got the rules changed just so he could potentially debut at 17. Luke Browning is caught in Williams hell, Leonardo Fornaroli is a superb talent who lacked factory backing, Jak Crawford was decent but stuck with Aston Martin and they’re not changing lineups, and Alex Dunne was a McLaren junior with no chance of F1 there, and then fell into the trap of Helmut Marko’s corporate greed.
I think there’s a chance for three younger drivers making it to F1 for 2027. Nikola Tsolov is clearly decent and if Red Bull decide that’s enough for Liam Lawson, they can plug him right in (It’d be a shame as Lawson is clearly good enough to be in F1 and has lowkey been good this year, but he has no real future there).
Rafael Camara just won the Barcelona F2 Feature Race in dominant fashion and I’m a big fan of his outright speed, but he has stacked it a couple of times, and Ferrari’s line of succession just got a lot rougher now it seems Lewis Hamilton is sticking around for longer than some thought.
And there’s new rumblings that Haas are giving Fornanoli a test this week, which is great news to see that F1 teams were paying attention last year to his really under-appreciated F2 campaign. So maybe Haas going more for the McLaren junior stable might be the move. I’d be nervous if I was Esteban Ocon, mind you…
Do you think that the Madring will last long in F1 or it will be another Valencia? – Ratonero Gris
Tricky one, this. F1 loves giving the places it loves big commitments – Bahrain and Miami recently got 14 and 15 year extensions, Vegas just got confirmation that F1 will use the full 10-years of its initial agreement, and Madring’s been giving an initial 10-year plan.
All of this screams an ideal sort of venue for what modern-day F1 wants to be. Street circuit that the locals are prepared to pump twice as much money into? Check. Easily accessible public transport, with Barcelona airport less than 30 miles out? Check. Easy access to city links like Madrid? Check, we’re bringing the racing to the people. 110,000 seats with potential to push it to a Silverstone level 140k? Check.
For what it’s worth, I hate the layout of this track. Valencia had an awful pinch point for its first sector but the rest was fine. Madring has some really nasty looking chicane sequences that look awful for racing and I’m not sure where the passing opportunities are beyond Turn 1, but the bigger question mark for me is, is the Spanish market big enough for it?
Barcelona was interesting this past weekend in that they sold out on Saturday and Sunday for general admission for the first time in a long time. Over 300,000 across the weekend. Now was that a roll out for Fernando Alonso’s potentially final race in the city? A showing of support for the race there instead of Madrid? I dunno, but I’m going to be very intrigued to see what the attendance figures will look like for its opening weekend. If it’s at Vegas level, they’ll be fine. If not… questions will be asked.
There had been news about Flatrock Motorsports Park building a new GP track specifically for MotoGP. It’s been a few years since we first got to know anything about it. What do you think?
Also, will we see more and more street circuits now that Adelaide is being green flagged? – VultureValiance
I think it’s a decent enough looking track, but it screams more “Thermal Club II” as an actual race venue, as opposed to a Grand Prix venue for the people. I looked at their website and it’s pretty clear they’re gunning for that private membership, people with fast cars looking for a fast track to race round, ala Thermal. And as IndyCar proved, it didn’t really work for top-level Motorsport events. I still hear that the cheeseboards were exquisite though.
As for Adelaide and what it could mean… yeah, I’m concerned about the future optics there. I get why they had to move away from Philip Island. As great a track as it is, that alone isn’t going to cut it for MotoGP’s business vision going into the 2030’s. Adelaide is clearly being aimed at that same Madring, bringing the racing to the people, city event vibe. If they can pull it off there and get people excited about said model, they’ll absolutely try to bring it elsewhere. Remember, Albert Park was the original plan for the moved Australian round, but they didn’t want to make the adjustments. MIami’s F1 venue has been eyed up for sometime too, with Liberty CEO Derek Chang already saying there’s a market for it.
All of which to say – Where the hell are the riders at? This is why so many people are rightly screaming at them to union up and be a seat at the table, because ultimately, they’re the ones risking their lives at tracks that are far more dangerous than what they’re used to. But for now, I think attempts will be made for more of those street tracks being signed off in the future.
Are there hard regulations (or at least specific guidelines) for medical teams clearing a motoGP rider to race? I’m specifically asking with Jorge Martin’s multiple crashes in Barcelona and concussion (which seems to have caused some instability) in mind. – Kitt
You’re not wrong there Kitt, I too was very concerned with Martin’s staggered response to his Turn 12 crash at Barcelona. After all, it was a very similar crash, a bike bouncing off the outside wall, that tragically led to Luis Salom’s passing a decade ago.
The FIM, bike-racing’s governing body released a new, 22-page comprehensive guide to concussion management back in January (Which you can download and read here), which featured a lot of the language I’ve seen more serious sports take up in regards to concussions, ala rugby and football. “If in doubt, sit them out”, a 10-day mandatory sitout period if diagnosed, and the emphasis that head injuries can be fatal. So it all sounds good in theory, but then if it’s not being put to practice, then what’s the point?
I remember that in Friday practice, Martin had Dr Charte, the main doctor of the paddock in Martin’s garage as a precautionary measure, but nothing more was done. Martin crashed six times in four days. Now I don’t know if there were concussion-like symptoms at play here, or there were more performance-related reasons. But on any level, it’s not a good look given what happened on Friday, and then witnessing the mess that was the rest of his weekend.
I personally still think we have a long way to go before we get uniformed, systemic change on concussions in MotoGP, because if we did, grids would be 33% smaller week-to-week.
What can you say about older/longtime F1 fans slowly losing interest in the series? – Marj
It’s an inevitable part of modern-day sports. I’ve sat in journalism group chats covering the sport, worked with experts in social media and sporting analysts in general, and they all look at demographics in similar ways. In their eyes, there’s two different types of fan – The legacy fan, they’re typically older, and they’ve been in the sport so long that they’re probably going to watch no matter what the actual product is. That’s your core audience.
Everyone’s now chasing the golden carrot of the “new fan”. And they always look in the same areas; 18-34 year olds, and until a few years ago, mostly men. Only recently have a lot of people realised: “Oh fuck, women watch sports too”, and are now trying to harder to see how they can get women to watch them. F1 and MotoGP are dancing around that issue now realising they’ve been marketing to meatheads for decades. Hence why there’s been a shift towards celebrities, driver “content” and racing culture because that’s what they think women want to see.
I don’t want to see any 30-40 year F1 veteran fan feel like their sport isn’t worth watching anymore, but sports more often than not are looking for the next legacy fan they can capture now. It is what it is.
What’s the future for Scott McLaughlin look like if he doesn’t end his winless streak this season? – Narendra
I think a lot of people may start asking the same questions we had for Josef Newgarden a year ago.
McLaughlin’s now on a 27-race dry spell since his last victory at Milwaukee back in 2024. Back then, it felt like it was going to be a matter of when, rather than if, the big one was coming. Since then, no wins, a regression to 10th in the standings last year, 5 podium finishes (One of which the 500 this year), but little to show for it.
Something not mentioned so much either – He’s become de facto team leader at Penske, with Will Power moved out for David Malukas, and McLaughlin getting first pick of Penske rehiring Tim Cindric to be his race engineer. Despite that, Malukas has been a revelation in the #12 and a genuine title contender, Newgarden’s still the best oval racer in the world, and Scotty… is just kinda there. Good results, but nothing that really stands out.
He doesn’t even need to win all that much – Power won an Astor Cup on a one-win season, but just get closer to Palou in title contention. In the last two years, Kyle Kirkwood, Pato O’Ward, Christian Lundgaard and David Malukas have all looked better. I’m not super concerned just yet, but a couple of wins or just sneaking back into the Top 5 in points would be really helpful to avoid deeper conversations about his IndyCar future.
Obviously premature, but if Fernando does retire, who would Aston want/be able to put in that seat next year? – Nikki
Good question. I agree, I don’t think it’ll be this year, maybe next year that Fernando calls it quits (As F1’s first 46 year old since 1972), but it does leave a fascinating door open. A team that’s in a real mess at the moment but does have a lot of potential.
Do they just go to the academy and run Jak Crawford? He was an F2 runner-up last year and a solid pair of hands, but maybe not spectacular enough a talent. Maybe Yuki Tsunoda, even after the separation of himself and Honda as partners? Still a very solid midfield driver who would be keen to return to the grid? Do you pluck someone else out of the juniors depending on the landscape down there? (Again, hard to think a year ahead here).
Still maintain, I think Leonardo Fornaroli’s the best name on the board outside of a shock free agency departure, but is he going to be as exciting after two years out of full-time racing?
With the Indycar driver market starting to solidify, which drivers could lose their seats, and who (if anyone) do you see coming up from Indy NXT? – Ciara
I think the big one was Josef Newgarden, but the longer this season goes on, but I think he ultimately stays, he’s doing better than he was last year and Penske will still want the near guaranteed ovals. If he stays, I think Christian Lundgaard will stay at McLaren. There’s no real better team for him out there at the moment, and I think the #9 at Chip Ganassi is being groomed for Marcus Armstrong in the future. (No, I’m not buying the Jenna Fryer rumor mill she dropped on her Substack this week. Yet.)
The next nearest potentially vulnerable seat is Marcus Ericsson at Andretti. And in his defence, he’s having a better season than he’s had the last couple of years too. But has he done enough to stay with them? Don’t know. Dennis Hauger’s the obvious favourite to replace him given the Dale Coyne technical partnership and Hauger definitely has pace, even if he’s a little green.
Because here’s the thing – Indy NXT has got its best rookie class I can remember in years. Nikita Johnson, Enzo Fittipaldi, Max Taylor (Even if technically not a rookie), Alessandro de Tullio and Tymek Kucharczyk have all been excellent, they’ve all won races, and any one of the five you could make a case for calling up and I’d be totally okay with it. Enzo’s probably your favourite because we know the Fittipaldi camp comes with funding and sponsors. Anyone else may have to come down to seeing who has funding, and who has a partnering IndyCar team that might be prepared to slip some notes to make up the difference. Personally, I think Taylor is the rawest, but has the most exciting upside, so I’d be eyeing him up.
A lot of the other “maybes” I suspect will come down to who’s prepared to continue funding their rides going forward, ala Sting Ray Robb, Mick Schumacher, etc.
Who’s winning the World Cup? – Max
My gut going into the tournament said Spain. I had the least number of question marks about them going in from a balanced squad perspective, but a week in and I’m not so sure. Spain looked rather toothless against Cape Verde and I think they miss having the presence of a proper #9 upfront. France was able to break down Senegal in the end but I still think they miss the #10 presence of Griezmann and Giroud’s hold-up play. Portugal will ring every last drop out of Ronaldo until he dies, at their detriment. England looked great against Croatia but I have concerns about O’Reilly and the defence.
Everyone’s shown vulnerabilities and that makes things interesting. Going to stick to Spain.
Check back next month for another, Ask Dre!