Over before it’s begun
Minimal progress puts the Yamaha/Quartararo partnership at risk
The MotoGP championship for Fabio Quartararo and Yamaha appears over before it’s begun after a demoralising performance in Qatar where he finished 12th and 11th.
Of course, Yamaha’s investment in upgrading technical staff and boosting engine and aero performance was never going to provide an instant fix. That said, Quartararo’s modest top five aspirations this year have not lessened his annoyance that the gap to front-runners Ducati, KTM and Aprilia is widening, not closing.
The Doha race confirmed Quartararo’s fears that the new M1, despite a huge revamp, is not yet a title-winning weapon and that Yamaha will spend another year in world title wilderness with the current work more likely a platform for 2025. But will Quartararo be willing to hang around that long?
The poaching of Ducati engineers Max Bartolini (technical director) and Marco Nicotra (aerodynamics), and Ferrari F1 engine man Luca Marmorini, is yet to return the dividends of the budget boost to re-structure Yamaha Motor Racing.
Quartararo’s assessment was scathing, and targeted: “The gap to the Europeans is bigger. We are further away than ever. Even to Honda we are missing something.”
A repeat of a winless 2023 is untenable with Yamaha and Honda seemingly in their own mid-pack championship this year.
The M1’s shortcomings are time attack (12th in qualifying), nervous on-throttle response, early race pace on new tyres and the alarming decline in fast corner acceleration, once an M1 strength jealously sought by rivals.
Quartararo won at Doha in 2021, pulling way from Ducatis. This year he was 11th and 17.7s behind.
And when the tech issues are solved there is still the unconfirmed capability - despite a speed/ acceleration boost - of the M1 to survive pack racing against the V4s.
The deployment of a high risk race strategy and Quartararo’s extraordinary braking skills will be crucial for race wins.
The post-race truth sheets made ugly reading. Quartararo’s commentary reflecting that the major enhancements are an improvement, but not enough.
Is there a benchmark for the new M1? At Doha a superseded 2023 Ducati was raced by Alex Marquez.
Marquez has zero MotoGP wins from 70 starts and is not on anyone’s radar to become MotoGP champion.
Quartararo has 11 MotoGP victories from 92 starts. He was 2021 world champion, and second in 2022 - in a last race decider with Bagnaia’s Ducati - his talent keeping Yamaha above water.
Yet across the opening weekend Marquez finished nine seconds ahead in the Sprint and 11 seconds ahead in the GP.
That Quartararo is exposed to being so uncompetitive is a waste of his champion’s mentality; he understands he’s fast and what he needs. He is a man who knows his true potential on a fast bike.
There should be some brighter days for Quartararo at circuits that are more M1 friendly, but it looks highly unlikely that they will fight for the title this year.
Which brings us to 2025. The rider market is on the up-swing with Quartararo and Ducati ace Jorge Martin the two prime free agents. Even with an accelerated development plan, a further boost to the M1 before summer would defy normal time frames to persuade Quartararo to stay.
Quartararo notes the refreshing, risk-friendly mentality of the new Yamaha tech team but says he’s open to all offers. Selling the promise of a 2025 performance upgrade is not easy.
Ducati have a tantalising shortlist topped by Martin, while KTM are all-in with Brad Binder and Pedro Acosta. Honda are stalled, like Yamaha. Based on Doha, could the best landing spot be Aprilia? It would put Quartararo on a V4 but are Aprilia ambitious enough to snatch the former champion?
‘The gap is wider. We are further away than ever’