The 2027 MotoGP season will be a revolution. The engines will change with the switch to 850cc, the tyres will change with the arrival of Pirelli, the aerodynamics will change, the downforce devices will disappear, and, inevitably, braking requirements will also change. In this scenario, Brembo didn’t wait for time to show the way—it got ahead of the curve.
Matteo Aglio went straight to Brembo’s headquarters to get an up-close look at one of the most interesting innovations ahead of the new era of MotoGP. Andrea Pellegrini, Brembo’s racing sales manager and track engineer, explained the details, showcasing the new brake caliper developed for the 2027 850cc MotoGP bikes.
It’s a caliper designed with the future in mind, but one that’s actually ready for the present. That’s because Brembo has already made it available to the teams during testing at Misano and will continue to collect data during testing at Brno as well. This isn’t a regulatory requirement, because Brembo isn’t the sole supplier to MotoGP by mandate— it is so because all the teams choose it. And even with the new generation of bikes, the Italian manufacturer will continue to be the benchmark for the entire grid.
The current caliper, the one used on the MotoGP 1000 bikes, was introduced in 2020. At the time, Brembo had to address a significant increase in power, temperatures, and loads generated in part by aerodynamics and downforce. This led to the choice of ventilation fins, which later became a distinctive feature on Moto2 and Moto3 calipers as well.
“We’ve increased the heat exchange surface area—that is, the area in contact with the air,” explained Pellegrini. In other words, more surface area means greater heat dissipation capacity in a braking system designed to operate under increasingly extreme conditions.
With the new MotoGP 850, however, the picture changes. Braking effort is expected to be slightly lower than on current bikes, precisely due to the new regulations: smaller displacement, less front-end aerodynamics, no downforce devices, and a different overall weight. Brembo has therefore chosen to completely redesign the caliper.
The new component no longer features the prominent cooling fins of the current version. In their place is a more sculpted, more technical design—almost extreme in its simplicity. This isn’t an aesthetic choice, even though the result is truly striking. It’s the result of topological optimization, a process that starts with the component’s 3D model and allows material to be removed from areas not under stress, while retaining it where it’s truly needed.
The result is a caliper that is approximately 80 grams lighter than the current one. That may not seem like much, but on a MotoGP bike, nothing is insignificant—especially when it comes to mass distributed on the front end. Considering both front calipers, the total weight savings can reach about 160 grams.
“Dynamically, the rider doesn’t really feel the difference directly,” Pellegrini clarified, “but for engineers, having lighter solutions is always important, because it then allows us to position weight where it’s needed on the bike.”
The interesting thing is that this weight reduction hasn’t entailed a change in philosophy. Brembo has maintained the same hydraulic ratio and the same pistons as the current caliper, so as not to alter too much the feel that riders have become accustomed to in recent years. In other words: the caliper looks different on the outside, but it’s designed to give the rider a familiar feel at the lever.
The anti-drag system also remains, which is essential for preventing the pads from remaining in contact with the disc when the rider releases pressure on the brake. This pursuit of perfection in MotoGP also involves seemingly minor details, but ones that can make all the difference when working with thousandths of a second and extreme temperatures.
The new caliper also retains the quick-release connectors, which are useful when the calipers need to be removed to change a wheel or work on the rotors without having to bleed the system each time. The anti-shaking valve, however, has disappeared from the caliper—not because it was eliminated, but because Brembo moved it to the brake master cylinder.
Another important aspect is interchangeability. The new caliper uses the same brake pad as the current version and is essentially plug-and-play. Teams, therefore, are not required to replace the entire package to test or adopt it. They can install it and compare it directly with the previous solution.
Brembo has already delivered a set to all manufacturers and teams, precisely to ensure everyone has the same opportunity at the same time. Some have already tested it at Misano; others will do so at Brno, after which the final decision will be up to the teams. The new caliper could be used as early as the end of this season and, in all likelihood, will be one of the key technical features of the 2027 MotoGP season.
The switch to 850s will also open up a broader discussion about brake rotors. Pellegrini expects that in the first year of the new era, the large 355 mm rotors—the “pans,” as they’re called in the paddock—may be set aside for a while. The most widely used solution could be the 340 mm discs, available in both standard and vented versions. However, Brembo will keep all options in its catalogue, as the choice will depend on the circuits and the teams’ needs.
In 2028, for example, the 355 mm discs could come in handy on tracks that are particularly hard on brakes, such as Austria and Motegi. The MotoGP 850 will be a whole new world to explore for Brembo as well, but the direction is already set: greater efficiency, less weight, and the same precision.
The new Brembo caliper clearly illustrates what the future of MotoGP will look like. It’s not just about smaller engines or less aerodynamically extreme bikes, but even more refined attention to detail. Because when everything changes, those who want to stay ahead must start working before everyone else. And Brembo, as always, has already gotten a head start on the future.