Ducati has decided to halt development of its 2024 MotoGP bike as the title battle between Jorge Martin and Francesco Bagnaia enters the final phase.

With four events to go in the championship and 10 points separating Martin and Bagnaia in the standings, Ducati has halted the development of the GP24 so that the pair can fight for the title with the machinery they already know.

Bagnaia took his eighth win of the year and fourth double at Motegi last Sunday, completing a perfect weekend. After arriving in Japan with a 21-point deficit, the Italian recovered 11 points in a single event, confirming that the battle between him and the Spaniard is more open than ever.

Whether it is because of the equality between the two, contract commitments or a simple question of fair play, Ducati has decided to halt the development of the Desmosedici GP24.

Motorsport.com understands that the last new development came at Silverstone, two months ago, and that was a fairing on the lower sides of the bike.

Despite the fact that Martin will leave the Borgo Panigale brand at the end of the season to join Aprilia in 2025, the Bolognese manufacturer’s executives have continued to insist that the Spaniard will have exactly the same tools he had before his departure, to fight for what would be his first MotoGP title.

Francesco Bagnaia, Ducati Team, Jorge Martin, Pramac Racing

Photo by: Dorna

Bagnaia’s and Martin’s agreements with Ducati are identical, regardless of their pay, and this can be extrapolated to Enea Bastianini and Franco Morbidelli, the other two GP24 riders. That means that any improvement that one of them receives must be available to the other three.

Precisely for this reason, the most relevant elements that Ducati tested in the collective test held last month at Misano will no longer be incorporated on the GP24, but directly on the GP25.

“At Misano, I tested a new chassis, which neither I nor Jorge will be able to use this year. Basically, because it’s an evolution that Ducati should be able to offer by contract to all the riders who ride the GP24, but unfortunately, there are not enough parts,” Bagnaia told Motorsport.com.

“Our bike [his and Martin’s] will stay as it is until the end of the season. And it’s a pity because it’s an important step forward, which could probably help to make a difference. But Ducati was always clear about that, and the two bikes will be the same until the end. This chassis will be the starting point for next year’s Ducati.”

Ducati claims to give equal treatment to the two main title contenders, but that is obviously limited to this season. Martin’s move to Aprilia meant that he did not test the chassis in question at the Marco Simoncelli circuit.

In fact, neither he nor any member of Pramac, which will switch to Yamaha bikes next season, was able to enter the Ducati’s garage, something that was customary in testing.

Asked directly about the confidence he has in Ducati to keep its promise until the finale in Valencia, Martin said: “Ducati is backing me 100%. My bike is perfect and I’m convinced that it will stay that way until the world championship is over.”

Williams team boss James Vowles recently stated his duo of Alex Albon and Carlos Sainz will be “the best driver line-up on the grid” in 2025, kickstarting an interesting discussion as several teams could realistically make that claim.

So, which team really has the best line-up next year? Our writers have their say.

Jake Boxall-Legge – McLaren’s duo takes it on current form

Route-one pick? Perhaps, but McLaren is surely the simple answer. Forget past glories, track record, etcetera; the only thing that matters is the here and now. McLaren’s driving duo has been the best-performing duo of 2024 so far and, in 2025, it’s only going to get better.

There are two reasons for that: Lando Norris’ growing experience of a championship fight and Oscar Piastri’s potential becoming realised. Norris is learning how to deal with the pressure of a battle for the F1 title and is finding more from within himself, shaking off the iffy starts and self-doubt and channelling his energy into conquering Max Verstappen. To conquer Max, you must become Max; the 23- and 21-second margins of victory at Zandvoort and Singapore will surely help that cause.

Lando Norris, McLaren F1 Team, Oscar Piastri, McLaren F1 Team, are interviewed by Ariana Bravo, F1 Digital presenter, on stage in the Fan Zone

Photo by: Mark Sutton / Motorsport Images

But if Norris, still only 24, is starting to reach the peak of his powers, then Piastri’s got even more room to grow. It’s generally assumed that the Australian has the higher plane of potential, and his maturity shone through in his stellar defence against Charles Leclerc in Baku, but consistency is still missing relative to Norris.

When you look at Piastri’s growth from 2023, however, you sense that this will come to him next season. The biggest gulf between the two McLaren drivers last season was in tyre management; Piastri has since upped his race pace and found a way to keep the Pirellis in the window. Both drivers, in terms of peak performance, are pretty much on par thus far – it’s only Norris’ extra tenth in qualifying and that smidgen of extra consistency that keeps him ahead.

In terms of grid averages, Norris and Piastri shake out immediately behind Verstappen at their average starting positions of 3.89 and 4.78 respectively behind Verstappen’s 2.39. In the drivers’ championship, Piastri now sits just eight points behind Leclerc – having scored more points than anyone in the last seven rounds. In that window, he’s scored 125 points, just two more than Norris…

Ferrari’s line-up runs it close, but Lewis Hamilton’s no longer the driver that he was at his peak. Andrea Kimi Antonelli is still too much of an unknown, even if the Antonelli/George Russell pairing could be a world-beating combination in the future. Red Bull is too lopsided, as is Aston Martin, RB, Haas, and Alpine can largely be described as ‘meh’, and Sauber doesn’t even have a full pairing to show us.

With apologies to James Vowles, I think I’d probably take Norris and Piastri over Albon and Sainz. But it’s still a mighty fine line-up you’ve got, that’s for sure.

Mark Mann-Bryans – Mercedes has the right driver profiles to flourish despite Hamilton’s departure

Losing a seven-time world champion to one of your biggest rivals can never be described as a good thing – but for Mercedes, it does offer the chance of a reset.

Hamilton won six of those drivers titles behind the wheel of a Mercedes but in recent seasons he and George Russell were limited to, largely, fighting for scraps as other teams proved dominant.

Russell remains in place and is joined for 2025 by highly-rated rookie Andrea Kimi Antonelli despite Mercedes team boss Toto Wolff openly flirting with Max Verstappen at different stages of the 2024 season. The Russell/Antonelli partnership does give Mercedes the sort of driver line-up that can really work.

Andrea Kimi Antonelli, George Russell, Toto Wolff, Team Principal and CEO, Mercedes-AMG F1 Team

Photo by: Mercedes AMG

In Russell, Mercedes retains a proven race winner who, as he enters his seventh year in Formula 1, has matured into someone who at this stage of his career should be capable of leading a team as its number one driver.

Often outperforming Hamilton in qualifying, Russell has the pace to mix it with the best and could enjoy a strong outing in 2025 ahead of the rule changes if the recent progress made by the team does not start a period of regress before then.

Add to the mix a dose of youthful exuberance in the shape of Antonelli, who was driving so fast on his FP1 debut in Monza he not only shocked Wolff but put Russell’s car into the wall at Parabolica.

The 18-year-old Italian will want to come in and hit the ground running, eclipsing his experienced team-mate in the process, but will also be ready to learn from Russell as the pair work to get Mercedes back to the top of Formula 1.

It will not be an easy task but in Russell and Antonelli, Mercedes has a pairing that will fight and excite in equal measure.

Alex Kalinauckas – The Hamilton/Leclerc combination has no weaknesses overall

Lewis Hamilton’s move to Ferrari for 2025 is no less box office than when it was announced eight months ago. Motorsport.com understands that, as a result, Monza officials are already clocking unprecedented levels of interest in tickets for the 2025 Italian Grand Prix – given it’ll be the first time to see the seven-time world champion in Ferrari red at that famous race. That Charles Leclerc so brilliantly won at Monza this year shows what a strong combination these two are going to be for Ferrari.

Their past successes also combine to prove this is the best line-up, statistics-wise. Hamilton’s title haul is the most any team will be able to boast in their 2025 line-ups. Plus, his record win tally plus Leclerc’s own win total means Ferrari will head into next year with 112 race victory memories in the heads of their two drivers. Next best is Red Bull with Max Verstappen and Sergio Perez’s combined 67.

Lewis Hamilton, Mercedes-AMG F1 Team, Charles Leclerc, Scuderia Ferrari

Photo by: Steven Tee / Motorsport Images

But what really sets this line-up apart is how Hamilton and Leclerc complete each other’s games for Ferrari.

In Hamilton, he has shown he can cut it in many a championship battle, plus his racecraft and tyre management are still up there with F1’s best. Are they still the best Hamilton himself could produce at the peak of his Mercedes title run? Those Spa 2022 and Qatar 2023 lap-one crashes suggest not. But even Hamilton coming down from his greatest height is still brilliant.

In Leclerc, Ferrari has F1’s best qualifier – a deserved reputation given his speed and regular flair over a single lap. But his consistency over 33 laps on his way to that Monza win shows he has the nous to treat the tyres just right too when everything is hooked up.

Qualifying speed is something that Hamilton has struggled with of late, which he has been upfront about in his public discussions of the matter. What will be interesting is seeing how he gets on with the tricky Pirellis with being able to see Leclerc’s data from next year – as the Monegasque is often able to extract the ultimate peak of grip from a set of softs. This does, however, leave him at risk of crashing – hence the wild side of his reputation.

What cannot be known is how these two will get on working together – especially if Ferrari can get itself into a title fight in 2025…

Ben Hunt – Here’s why I am picking Haas’ Oliver Bearman and Esteban Ocon (hear me out!)

Yes, I have read the assignment. And no, I am not joking. I honestly believe Haas has the best driver line-up for 2025 – because it is all relative.

I have seen what my colleagues have had to say about Ferrari, McLaren and Mercedes, and I make them right. But Haas doesn’t have a chance of signing any of those six drivers, so they have to be smart with who they select, which is why I make its decision to sign Bearman and Ocon as the best choice … available to the team.

I have been very impressed by Bearman on the two GP outings he has made in Saudi Arabia and Baku – two incredibly fast and challenging circuits where he excelled during the race. His other performances in FP1, which have been crucial for Haas to refine the car, have largely been solid where he has completed his objectives.

Oliver Bearman, Reserve Driver, Ferrari and Haas F1 Team

Photo by: Sam Bloxham / Motorsport Images

I am excited to see how Bearman progresses next season from this year, his results in Formula 2 have not been a true reflection of his ability.

As for Ocon, he’s now out the other side of his turbulent spell with Alpine. His frustration has dissipated, and the outbursts have stopped. Those who know him, know he’s quick but the career moves have not worked out kindly for him. Now 28, he has all the experience and Haas will look to him to become the team’s leader and that means a new-found level of responsibility and maturity.

Ocon will have been burned by the way he was turfed out of Alpine and should be motivated to prove a point. He will offer a reliable benchmark for Bearman, one just hopes the widely-mooted reputation for not being a team player is simply an unfounded accusation.

I have been impressed by Haas boss Ayao Komatsu and I think his decision to go for this driver pairing could prove to be an inspirational choice. Besides, who else could he have realistically picked?

In a parallel universe, Pierre Gasly is a professional football player often daydreaming about how far he could have gone in racing, if he had only continued his career in karting. In this universe, however, the French F1 driver every so often wonders if he could be playing for his favourite club, Paris Saint-Germain, had he made a different decision in his teenage years.

If you follow Pierre Gasly on Instagram, you know the 28 year old from Rouen is a huge fan of football. (“Don’t write ‘soccer’,” Gasly’s manager Guillaume Le Goff jokingly warned me.) The number on Gasly’s car, 10, is an homage to legendary French footballer Zinedine Zidane, who wore it for much of his international career. Gasly regularly strolls the paddock in football shirts, including Paris Saint-Germain’s and the French national team’s. He organizes matches played with Alpine colleagues to blow off steam after a long day at the track (they’ll play in a 30,000-seat stadium in Mexico City, Alpine’s press officer tells me). And in the ultimate fan move, Gasly became part owner of FC Versailles, a semi-pro club in France’s third-tier league, this past March.

Gasly started playing football at age 5. “I loved it,” he tells me with a huge smile on his face. “Honestly, I’m still dreaming about it. The sport itself, actually playing ball and being with my teammates. And the whole atmosphere of being with your team, going to places and challenging other teams from other cities. I loved every single moment of it.”

“Even this morning I was saying: I think the day that I retire from F1, I’ll enter a veteran team or an old men’s club just to play. Because it’s really a big, big passion of mine.”

Before Alpine’s PR lead snatched Gasly’s ball and pulled him away for another interview, we talked about investing in a pro team, being forced to choose between his two loves as a teenager, and having a life outside Formula 1.

You told me once that you had a “good level” when you played football as a kid. What would you qualify as a “good level”?

Well, I clearly lost it! [Ed note: Gasly’s attempts to show off his football skills shortly before the interview did not quite rise to “a good level”.] But back then, I was good with the ball. We went to the French Cup and did well in the qualifiers for just a small club.

One day we went to the formation in Auxerre, which at the time was the winner of the French championship. And they had a very famous manager back then, Guy Roux, who I got to meet. And I got in the selection for the French academy.

I always used to run a lot. I was a winger. Until 11 I was playing half pitch, and as a winger I was going from attack to defense, attack to defense. So, actually that was really good for me, because I built up a very, very good cardio. I was putting as much effort in karting as in football.

When you were 6 years old, you started karting as well. How did you manage football, karting, and school?

So when I was 6 or 7 — I can’t remember exactly — the school actually offered my parents [the opportunity] for me to jump a year, because I had very good grades and they estimated that I could go a year ahead of what I was. And I think my parents were quite smart to say: “Well, we rather want him to stick [to his current year] and have it easy at what he does now at school, because that will free more time for him to do sports.” I could dedicate the rest of my time to karting and football. And I could manage it pretty well.

When I started to do karting competitions at 9, then it started to become more complicated with football. When I was 10 or 11, I started to miss a few practices here and there. And because of the races, I couldn’t go to all of the games. I remember I came for a game on Sunday and the coach was not happy that I was focusing more on karting than on football. And he told me as a punishment he would put me in the second team. And I said: “Fuck that, I’m not playing for the second team.” And I just stopped on that day.

That must have been a hard decision.

I said to myself: OK, I basically need to choose. But in my mind it was already clear. Even though they are my two biggest passions, my love for karting and racing was a touch bigger. And also, I think I was slightly more competitive in karting than in football — the first was bringing me more trophies. It got to a point where I could see I couldn’t do both at my best. And I wasn’t fine with that.

Are there any things you’ve learned in football that you benefit from in motorsport? You mentioned the cardio…

Cardio is definitely one. But also team spirit and being supportive of each other. In football sometimes you’ve got to make an extra effort to compensate for a teammate’s mistake. Or sometimes you do a mistake and then someone needs to have your back. And then, in the locker room, even if you are kids, you start building bonds between each other and you understand that your best games are actually the ones when there is a nice synergy between everyone.

To a bigger scale in F1, it’s the same, you know. When we are in the engineering room, it’s like a football locker room. The only difference is that everyone is dressed up in the engineering room. But also in Formula 1, you’ve got to get everyone together and very united as a team, and you’ve got to be very transparent and honest, and you’ve got to have everybody working towards the same target. So I think that team mentality was very good to have from a young age.

Karting is more individual. At the time it was only my dad and myself. So you’re not really looking after a team behind you. But on Wednesday, I would go to a game or practice and then I’d be with other kids and I had to understand that I needed to fit in and have that team spirit.

And also, sport in general just brings that structure in your life. Like, practice is at six… you have to be there at six. You have to do every exercise, follow the process and do the practice to get better and stronger. So when you’re a kid — you don’t necessarily see it then — but it does bring some structure to your work, which is essential in whatever you do later on.

“I need more than just Formula 1 in my life to get me mentally balanced and
in a happy place.”

Earlier this year you decided to invest in FC Versailles. How did that come about?

As a big football fan, I’ve always somehow wanted to be involved in the sport. Obviously, I wasn’t going to be involved as a player. But I always had in the back of my head that if one day an attractive offer would come up, I would find a way to be involved.

The owner who took over FC Versailles last year reached out to me at the end of last year because he saw that I was so into football — that I was going to a lot of games and watching a lot of football. They explained to me their project, their vision for the club, and what they wanted to do and how. And then they asked me if I was keen on coming and joining them on this project.

Obviously, football is a very complex sport. But given my knowledge of my sport and my experience of working in a high performance environment, they were quite keen to understand the standards of F1 and how things work here, and somehow use some of that knowledge and introduce some of those standards at the club.

And as an athlete, I think this is also an area where I bring them a lot. I try to put myself in the player’s position. I can say: as an athlete, me personally, I need this and this and this to be looked after. Where, generally speaking, owners probably don’t look so much at those things. They probably look at it more as a business, so they sometimes miss a little bit of the player side of things. But when you know how you can extract the maximum out of the guys, that actually brings performance on the pitch. So it’s a lot of interesting conversations. And a different angle to football, which I didn’t have before but which I actually enjoy a lot.

I think value-wise, we really matched. I had a very good connection with the two other owners [Alexandre Mulliez and Fabien Lazare]. And then I was like, OK, that’s definitely a very attractive project. And more for the long term as well. I need more than just Formula 1 in my life to get me mentally balanced and in a happy place. And this is just something that I love following, besides Formula 1.

Obviously, I’m not involved on a day-to-day basis, but every week we have a catch-up. And if they are playing, I watch the game. I’m very proud to be part of it.

Photo by: Michael Potts / Motorsport Images

What are your ambitions for FC Versailles? Can it be a success story like Wrexham A.F.C., which climbed from the fifth division in the English football league system to the third-tier League One?

I mean, we are in the third division. The target for the short term is to get into the second division, which is obviously very difficult because it’s very competitive. Football is so big, you have a lot of clubs with big budgets and big structures. So it’s a good challenge, but we’re not going to hide from it. For us, it’s clear that we want to get in that second division. And mid-to-long term, to get in the first division, which is a big jump that hopefully in a few years time we’ll be able to make.

Speaking of Wrexham: actors Ryan Reynolds and Rob McElhenney, who bought the club in 2020, joined the Alpine F1 team as investors last year. Did you seek their advice before investing in FC Versailles?

No, but I clearly got inspired by that story with Ryan and Wrexham. As a football fan, I obviously followed his journey with Wrexham. It’s a similar type of story with me. [Football] is not my industry. And I’m going in with some other people who are not actually coming from football as well. And yeah, I’d love to have a Wrexham versus Versailles friendly game at some point!

Have you also considered making a documentary series about FC Versailles, like “Welcome to Wrexham”?

So that’s in the pipeline, because yeah — you need exposure, you need sponsors. The more money you have, the better infrastructure you have, the better performance you’ll get out of the guys. So we have to promote our team the best way possible. But to be fair, there is a great team looking after it and they’re doing a very good job. Hopefully the ambitions and the results can follow each other.

This interview has been condensed and edited for clarity.

The FIM has announced a MotoGP engine freeze for the 2025 and 2026 seasons.

As reported by Motorsport.com last month, the MotoGP world championship will stop engine development for the next two seasons, before the new regulations come into force in the top class of motorcycle racing from 2027.

This will allow manufacturers to focus on preparing bikes for the new regulations, without having to invest in engine development after the beginning of the 2025 season.

Under the current rules, manufacturers could submit completely new engines before the first Grand Prix of each season. These were sealed and could no longer be modified for the rest of the year.

With the engine freeze now agreed unanimously by all the manufacturers, the sample engine that each team submits on Thursday at the 2025 Thai Grand Prix, the first round on next year’s calendar, will be identical to the ones they use all season. They will be limited to eight engines for each year’s racing.

Exempt from the freeze will be the two manufacturers who currently enjoy concessions, namely Honda and Yamaha. Their concessions status is only likely to change if there is a dramatic improvement in their results over the final few rounds of this season.

Both factory and private teams will be subject to the freeze ahead of 2027, when the current 1000cc engine formula will be cut to 850cc. This will be accompanied by a considerable restriction of aerodynamic elements and other devices, such as the ride height adjusters. The latter will essentially disappear, apart from those used specifically for race starts.

Race start

Photo by: Gold and Goose / Motorsport Images

The move makes sense given the desire of the championship’s governing bodies to limit investment by the factories with only two seasons left before the current technical framework changes.

This is not the first time that MotoGP’s highest decision-making body has played the engine freeze card to contain spending and stabilise budgets. The most recent case of this measure being taken was during the pandemic, specifically the 2020 and 2021 seasons.

In August 2020, Yamaha asked for permission to open the M1 engines of Valentino Rossi and Maverick Vinales, claiming there was a problem with the valves. That request led to considerable distrust from the other representatives of the Manufacturers’ Association (MSMA).

In the FIM statement announcing the engine freeze, it confirmed changes for safety or reliability would be permitted if no performance gain can be proven.

“Engine specification in the MotoGP class will be frozen for 2026, requiring all manufacturers to use their 2025 specification the following season. This is in order to control costs and maximise parity ahead of the introduction of the new regulations in 2027,” the FIM statement read.

“Certain allowances may be made concerning corrections for safety or reliability, or proven nonavailability of components, providing no performance increase will be gained.”

Formula 1 world champion Max Verstappen has conceded Red Bull couldn’t have been expected to keep all of its key members together amid a string of high-profile departures in recent weeks.

Off the back of designer Adrian Newey announcing his exit in May – and since signing for Aston Martin – Red Bull will also see sporting director Jonathan Wheatley leave for Sauber/Audi and head of strategy Will Courtenay join McLaren in the future.

Their departures come after a tumultuous year for Red Bull off the track. Tensions behind the scenes at the management level first surfaced around pre-season testing in Bahrain, when an investigation against alleged wrongdoing by team boss Christian Horner – a case which has since been dismissed – spilt out into the public domain.

Before that, Red Bull had already lost designer Rob Marshall, who is now playing an influential role at its 2024 title rival McLaren.

At the time Verstappen warned against the prospect of losing what he called “pillars” of Red Bull’s success story leaving the squad because of its inner turmoil, especially when his mentor Helmut Marko’s position was called into question.

“I’m also part of this trajectory. I signed until 2028, so it’s very important that certain pillars remain in place,” he explained at the Saudi Arabian Grand Prix.

Speaking to Motorsport.com six months later in Singapore, it is clear that that hasn’t happened, with Red Bull now opting to promote from within the fill the voids left by its outgoing staffers. Verstappen’s long-time race engineer GianPiero Lambiase is one member being entrusted with wider responsibilities under its revised management structure.

But Verstappen now acknowledges Red Bull was always going to struggle to keep its world championship-winning team together, with rivals aggressively trying to poach key figures. “Well, we didn’t manage that too well!”, Verstappen laughed, before offering a more measured response.

Jonathan Wheatley, Team Manager, Red Bull Racing

Photo by: Mark Sutton / Motorsport Images

“As I always said, I would have preferred if everyone had stayed, but in the end, you can’t stop people. If you force them to stay when they don’t really want to be here anymore, if they are disappointed or don’t fully get what they want, then maybe it’s better for them to take up a new challenge elsewhere. Even if for the whole team collectively, it would have been better if everything had stayed the way it was.

“It’s always been like that with successful teams, people will start picking them apart. You see that in any sport. And some people get such big offers from other teams that that plays a role as well.”

Other key figures like head of performance engineering Ben Waterhouse and head of aerodynamics Enrico Balbo did extend their contracts earlier this year.

Verstappen is therefore confident that Red Bull has the right technical leadership in place to drive the team forward in its post-Newey era, and says he enjoys a strong relationship with technical director Pierre Wache.

“It’s very good, Pierre and I talk a lot,” he explained. “When I’m in the factory, I always have a meeting with him. He’s very motivated and I enjoy being involved. Things are working quite well, it’s just that the results aren’t what we want right now. It’s up to us to turn that around as a team.

“I have faith that people know what they’re doing, they’ve already shown that. Other teams have very good people too, but I don’t think that’s the issue right now. We just took a wrong turn, so it was time to hit the reset button and go in a different direction.

“At the end of the day it’s not just two or three people who make the difference. It’s about the collective. Everyone has to chip in and work well within their role, that’s the most important thing.”

Supercars has revealed a new season format from next year with Finals rounding out the campaign to decide the 2025 champion.

The Australian series will switch to a three-stage split season, with the opening eight rounds counting for a Sprint Cup and the two endurance races determining an Enduro Cup champion, before the Finals format kicks in.

There will also be a point resets, with all 10 drivers going to the first Finals race on the Gold Coast level on 3000 points, and then 4000 for the next race, at Sandown.

Any driver who wins on the Gold Coast and Sandown will be automatically seeded into the final four to remain in title contention for Adelaide, along with the next two highest point-scorers.

Will it prove a success for the series? Our writers offer their views.

A brave change, but with damaging potential – Phil Branagan

The notion of shaking up the method to determine a champion is a positive one and I tip my hat to Supercars for being brave about that. But as Jim Hacker taught us in ‘Yes, Prime Minister’, bravery can have its consequences.

Some scenarios could expand from a micro concern to a macro nightmare under the new system. As an example, I am going to pick (on) current points leader and 2024 title favourite Will Brown. If the Triple Eight Chevrolet driver has a solid Bathurst 1000 result this weekend he could be leading the championship points going into the next round on the Gold Coast – and if some of his challengers do not dazzle at Bathurst Brown’s lead well may be one entire round’s points (300) or more.

Will Brown, Triple Eight Race Engineering Chevrolet Camaro ZL1

Photo by: Edge Photographics

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Imagine that Brown dominates qualifying on the Gold Coast but in the top 10 shootout, a locked wheel sends him wide, he misses a chicane and will therefore start the first race from 10th on the grid. The Gold Coast street circuit has a reputation for punishing errors; if from there Brown gets caught up in a lap 1 melee, he could be out for the day. Zero points.

Provided he can bounce back on Sunday, that may not be a huge setback. With a podium or a win he could/should even maintain his points lead going to the final race of this season in Adelaide.

Fast forward that same scenario to 2025. Brown could even win the Sunday race on the Gold Coast but imagine for a moment that a ‘finalist’ Ford driver further back in the field may face finishing eighth, ninth or 10th of the title contenders for the weekend, thereby saving Brown. Might other Ford drivers, loyal to the blue oval and themselves not in title contention, drive with a level of co-operation they may not do otherwise to ensure their mate is in the top seven and Brown is one of the three drivers eliminated, post-Gold Coast Far fetched? Could it happen? Maybe.

The Finals concept is bound to generate lots of storylines. That’s good for Supercars (and great for someone like me). But not all of those stories are going to be positive…

A cynical change at a convenient time – Sam Hall

My initial reaction to Supercars’ shift to a Finals format was simply: why? Granted, having a championship battle that goes to the wire is something that every series strives for and would add intrigue and viewing figures, but sometimes you have to accept that one team or driver will dominate and applaud that achievement.

While there are undoubted positives and it could catch the public’s imagination, it is impossible to shift the purist within me that believes motorsport should be a meritocracy, and should not artificially come down to a botched pitstop or a reliability problem – even driver error – at a single event.

Yes, there are other sports that have this format, NASCAR as the most high-profile example, but it just doesn’t sit right for me on a personal level.

Ricky Stenhouse Jr, JTG Daugherty Racing, Kroger Health/Palmolive Chevrolet Camaro

Photo by: Matthew T. Thacker / NKP / Motorsport Images

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It is the timing of this change that must be looked at closely, however. The broadcast deal expires at the end of 2025 and the introduction of the Gen3 cars has hardly provided the most entertaining racing.

It is then crucial that Supercars provides a better product, and rather than answer why these apparently equal machines appear not so equal on the track and what fundamental issues the series has, the quick fix of a Finals system has been implemented – something which brings with it extra sponsorship and marketing opportunities.

For all my negativity towards this, it should be added that I really do hope this works and I am made to eat my words 12 months from now. Supercars needs something to inject excitement back into the category and, even if this is not to my taste and seems more of a marketing exercise rather than a sporting decision, if it works, I’ll be as happy as anyone.

Surprised the change hasn’t happened sooner – Tom Howard

Having previously lived in Australia and worked in Supercars I’m actually surprised this change hasn’t happened sooner. Australian sport has a peculiar obsession with this ‘Finals Series’ format. It happens in AFL, NRL and the A-League. It was a hard concept for a Brit to get ones head around for sure. Imagine the English Premier League champions being decided by a one-off final instead of 38 games, it’s unheard of, but that is the case for the majority of sporting codes in Australia.

I agree this is not a change that will be loved by the purist and certainly Supercars fans have proven to be opposed to change in the past. I recall when Triple Eight dared to develop a V6 engine to replace the V8 creating complete uproar, and ultimately the V8 engine won out and is still in place today.

But the motorsport landscape is changing and certainly the way fans are interacting with championships. Sometimes taking a big swing at a format change can work. Supercars has tried tweaking formats before, some have worked, some have failed. But equally sitting still is not really option anymore given how fast the sporting landscape is changing and how people watch sport now.

Jake Hill, Laser Tools Racing with MB Motorsport BMW 330e M Sport

Photo by: JEP

Last weekend I attended the British Touring Car Championship final round at Brands Hatch which once again provided edge of the seat entertainment to determine its champion.

Granted its format does not represent the levels of sweeping change that Supercars will adopt in 2025, but its reverse grid race three and its hybrid usage scale determined on driver success that has replaced success ballast, does usually mean nine times out of 10 the championship will be decided at the final round. I have to say it is a great watch. Last weekend the eventual champion Jake Hill and rival Tom Ingram headed into the final race with a point separating them. Format changes can work for the better, but also the opposite can occur.

The World Rally Championship offers a great example. This year it has operated a new points system that is complicated for the fans to understand, but it has created vastly more entertaining Sundays. There will always be trade-offs with format changes.

I think it is brave of Supercars to make such a change. It will be a bit like Marmite or Vegemite (the former is better) some will love it, some will hate it. What is for certain is the Adelaide Grand Final will be must watch motorsport.