Luca Marini has said that MotoGP should think about changing its current qualifying system, which he believes gives a big disadvantage to riders who do not reach Q2. At the moment, the top 10 riders from Friday afternoon’s practice session automatically go through to the second qualifying round, known as Q2. The rest have to take part in Qualifying 1 on Saturday morning, where only the two fastest riders can move up and join them. Everyone else starts from 13th place or lower for both the Sprint and the Grand Prix, based on their Q1 results.

Marini told GPone.com that this format can ruin a rider’s weekend because one small mistake or yellow flag can stop them from setting a fast lap. “With the current level in MotoGP, not making it into Q2 is a huge handicap,” he said. “If you get caught out by a crash or a yellow flag that cancels your best lap, it’s a shame to throw away the entire weekend. Now there are two starts, and qualifying has become even more important.”

He believes that a small change could make things fairer for everyone. His idea is to allow more riders to move from Q1 to Q2, like in Moto2 and Moto3, where four riders progress instead of two. “It would also be good to simply increase the number of riders who make it from Q1 to Q2,” Marini explained. “Sometimes a rider in Q1 has the pace to win the race, but doesn’t get the opportunity to start near the front.”

In the smaller classes, 14 riders automatically qualify for Q2 after Friday’s session, which means 18 riders in total compete for pole position. In MotoGP, that number is only 12, making it harder for strong riders to recover if something goes wrong early in the weekend.

Marini admitted that, until any rule change happens, the only option is to be competitive from the very first session. “That’s how it is now, and we need to get better at being in the mix right from Friday,” he said. “The problem is that starting 13th, like I did at Sepang, requires a miracle at the first corner.”

The importance of qualifying is clear this season, as most podium finishes have come from riders who reached Q2. Some of the most impressive comeback results were Marco Bezzecchi’s win from tenth at Silverstone, Francesco Bagnaia’s second place from eleventh in Qatar, Fabio Di Giannantonio’s second from tenth at Phillip Island, and Enea Bastianini’s podium from eleventh in the Brno Sprint.

Marini, who currently sits 14th in the BMW Best Qualifier Award standings, stopped short of calling qualifying Honda’s biggest weakness. But he admitted that Honda’s rivals seem to get more grip from the rear tyre on a single flying lap.

“The others can extract more potential from the rear tyre for the first lap,” he said to GPone.com. “They have more grip. This is something we need to understand, because even Yamaha, which is often slower than us in the races, finds more potential in qualifying. KTM can also struggle in races but is amazing over one lap. Ducati and Aprilia have the most balanced bikes.”

He added that Honda must take a step forward in time attack mode to give its riders a better chance to start near the front. “We just need to improve in qualifying so all the Honda riders can begin closer to the front and then fight for the podium,” Marini said.