For the last century and more, motorsport has lasted entirely by one thing: crude oil. Crude oil is refined into high-octane petrol used in car engines.
However, times are changing. Many racing series, including MotoGP and Formula 1, have come to realize that fuel is an important factor in developing engine innovations. The significance of the shift is determined not only by environmental considerations but also by substantial engineering and economic vitality.
Several racing series are willing to use racing cars to test different fuels that can later be used in most everyday vehicles. MotoGP has become the most advanced series among all the world racing series. Since 2024, MotoGP has decreed that all bikes should run on fuels with a very high content of non-fossil fuel.
In 2025, the FIM Grand Prix Commission ordered that, by 2027, MotoGP should completely switch to non-fossil fuels in all races, and the requirement will apply to all its classes. However, there is also a choice of fuels available – biofuels made from biological materials and e-fuels produced by directly capturing CO2 from the atmosphere.
The verification process is not merely dependent on the honesty of the suppliers. MotoGP will monitor compliance using a radiocarbon technique: the C14 test measures the abundance of short-lived carbon-14 relative to total carbon.
The results are analyzed in light of atmospheric carbon levels. Because fossil fuels have been around for millennia, they contain no carbon-14. The standard, namely ASTM D6866, which can be used to define bio-based content in fuels, is internationally recognized.
If the carbon signature of the fuel sample matches the one found in the atmosphere, then the fossil component is automatically excluded. The transition to the new fuel does not happen spontaneously: back in November 2021, Dorna (the MotoGP organizer, located in Spain) and the FIM (Fédération Internationale de Motocyclisme, the international motorcycle federation headquarters based in Switzerland) announced that they would be going for the new fuel category according to the roadmap implying 40% of biofuel use by 2024 and 100% by 2027. Various manufacturers will thus have the time to adjust their production to the new normal.
The new fuel will come hand in hand with the ongoing innovative changes. Thus, starting in 2027, MotoGP will lower engine displacement to 850 cc and adopt a new technology that will allow riders to take off the ground without using any ride-height or holeshot technologies.
The desired outcome of implementing all the changes is lower speeds for racers, more exciting races, and greater attention to the rider's role. Starting in 2026, Formula 1 will launch a synthetic, lab-created fuel that can operate in internal combustion hybrid engines.
The idea behind the fuel is that it will make no net contribution to atmospheric carbon dioxide emissions because the carbon used in its production equals the carbon it releases when burned. The fuel should be created from waste and other input sources but should consist only of carbon from the atmosphere.
There is a strong correlation between the company's ambition and costs. The cost of the full fuel type for 2026 is estimated at $170–$300+ per liter, which is about 10 times the cost of E10 fuel, approximately $22–$33 per liter.
While it means spending up to $100,000 on fuel each weekend, it is easier to explain in terms of the process’s energy intensity. Indeed, the process of obtaining e-fuel is 3-10 times more costly than fossil fuels.
However, one might wonder why bother with liquid fuels given that electric vehicles already exist. Formula 1's own viewpoint is focused on reaching rather than racing alone. By the year 2030, it is estimated that there will be nearly 2 billion cars on the roads worldwide, with only about 8% of them pure battery vehicles. This means that the vast majority of the global automobile fleet will continue to use liquid fuels for years to come.
There is a synthetic fuel that can work in existing engines. According to F1, this can help reduce emissions from the huge legacy fleet without waiting for the full transition to electric vehicles. Brawn has emphasized making this fuel available to a wider range of consumers as a means of reducing global emissions, not only in racing.
According to Brawn, this has certain performance implications. Currently, a modern F1 engine achieves a thermal efficiency of more than 50%, whereas a typical road vehicle has about 30%. The fuel needed for racing has decreased from about 160 kg ten years ago to about 70 kg now.
The parallel transitions in MotoGP and F1 are a result of the industry's larger bet on the potential of racing technology to test fuel technology faster and on a larger scale than any lab could. Both sports are currently pursuing two approaches: biofuels derived from organic sources and e-fuels manufactured from captured carbon and green hydrogen. Both sports believe that if these fuels can be tested during racing, positive results of such tests can facilitate their use by ordinary vehicles.
However, critics note that while biofuels and e-fuels are not fossil, they still release CO2. Neither biofuel nor e-fuel is a fully clean fuel simply because it is considered non-fossil. Moreover, while both fuels can offset the amount of new fossil fuel added to the situation, they cannot be considered pollution-free. Nevertheless, it should be noted that by 2027, two of the largest racing championships plan to break ties with crude oil completely.
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