Pedro Acosta's maiden MotoGP win at the Austrian Grand Prix shifted the narrative around his form, but it did not calm his team. Paul Trevathan, Acosta's crew chief at Red Bull KTM Factory Racing, said the rider still has scope to get better and described the question of how much as frightening.
Trevathan, who has led KTM pit crews and worked with riders including Miguel Oliveira, Mika Kallio and Pol Espargaro, has been with Acosta since the rider joined the factory squad in 2025. He pointed to the way Acosta learned and adapted over the season, noting a marked step up after a month off in the summer.
“It's a scary question,” Trevathan told reporters when asked how much more Acosta can improve. He explained that some riders need a full winter to reset, but Acosta returned from his break on a higher level and pushed the team to develop the bike further.
The emotional relief around the Spielberg weekend was heightened by what had happened the day before. Acosta crashed in the Saturday sprint and again in the warm-up on Sunday morning, then channelled that frustration into the race. Trevathan said the rider was angry at himself after the sprint and took responsibility, quoting him as saying, “This is on me”.
That capacity to put mistakes behind him and deliver under pressure is, in Trevathan's words, a hallmark of top competitors. He said Acosta performed what the team asked of him on race day and praised the way the rider reset mentally after the earlier incidents.
The timing of the breakthrough adds another layer to the story. Acosta secured his first premier-class victory before leaving KTM to join Ducati next season. Trevathan's reaction was also framed by his own future, as he is expected to move into a different role within KTM after 2026, ending his stint as a crew chief.
The win closes a chapter at KTM while underlining the rider's upward trajectory. Trevathan's comments suggest KTM and the wider paddock will watch Acosta's final races with the factory closely, aware that the rider's development may not yet have reached its limits.
