F1 owners Liberty Media are dealing with a major MotoGP crisis after the Yamaha team withdrew from next weekend's Qatar GP.

MotoGP, which is owned like F1 by Liberty, is due to head to Lusail International Circuit for round 20 of the 2026 championship, with the race currently scheduled for Sunday November 8.

However, due to the ongoing tensions in the Middle East between Iran and the United States, some drivers are hesitant to head to Qatar, which has been hit by Iranian airstrikes this year.

At last weekend's Australian Grand Prix, it was reported that two-thirds of MotoGP riders were against racing in Qatar, and although that has since softened, another meeting was reportedly held in Malaysia this weekend, with the riders still hesitant to travel.

The situation escalated further though with reports on Saturday that any riders who do not travel to Qatar would face punishment, according to a report from Autosport.

According to that report, any rider who fails to turn up to take to the track in Qatar next Friday 'risks being barred from competing in the final two rounds of the championship in Portugal and Valencia'.

Yamaha pulls out of MotoGP Qatar race

Less than 24 hours on from those reports, we got the bombshell news on Sunday morning UK time that the Yamaha team was pulling out of next weekend's race.

A team statement announced: "Following its latest assessment of the situation in the Middle East, Yamaha has not identified sufficient grounds to change its existing company-wide travel restrictions.

"As a result, Yamaha has informed MotoGP Group about its decision not to participate in the 2026 Qatar Grand Prix.

"This decision reflects Yamaha’s assessment of the information currently available and is independent of the measures implemented by MotoGP Group and the event organizer.

"Yamaha remains fully committed to MotoGP and looks forward to returning to competition at the Portuguese Grand Prix."

MGPSEG (MotoGP Sports Entertainment Group) is majority owned by Liberty Media, who have an 84 per cent controlling stake, alongside MotoGP management, who make up the remaining 16 per cent.

Will F1 race in Qatar?

The F1 Qatar Grand Prix is currently scheduled to take place on Sunday November 29, again at Lusail.

At this stage the race is very much still on with F1 saying that the plan is to go ahead with both that race and the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix one week later.

Liberty Media faces MotoGP rider row over Qatar GP