F1 broadcast labels reigning MotoGP champion Marc Marquez as a former rider

Formula 1’s official broadcast briefly labelled Marc Marquez as a former MotoGP rider during the first practice session for the Barcelona-Catalunya Grand Prix on Friday, despite the Spaniard being the reigning champion of the series. Marquez was in the paddock as a guest of the Audi F1 team when the world feed cameras cut to him with the erroneous graphic.

The mistake was corrected quickly, but not before fans on social media had taken notice. “Went back to him and fixed it now. The graphics guy is out the back being flogged,” one Reddit user wrote. Another offered a more philosophical take: “He used to be a MotoGP rider, he still is, but he used to be one too.”

Several fans pointed out the particular irony of the timing. “The guy just dominated the recent grand prix lmao,” one comment read, while another noted: “He literally did the double last weekend…” — a reference to Marquez winning both races at the most recent MotoGP round.

The gaffe also drew comparisons to another recent broadcast slip, when a 10-second stop-and-go penalty for Alpine’s Franco Colapinto at the Australian Grand Prix was captioned on-screen as a “Colapinto-and-go” penalty.

Marquez currently sits fifth in the MotoGP riders’ standings with 108 points, behind leader Marco Bezzecchi on 180, Jorge Martin in second, Fabio Di Giannantonio in third, and Pedro Acosta in fourth.

On track in Barcelona, Mercedes driver George Russell topped the timesheets in the opening practice session, while McLaren’s Lando Norris went fastest in the second. In the drivers’ championship, Russell’s team-mate Kimi Antonelli leads by 66 points over Lewis Hamilton heading into the weekend.