MotoGP | Quartararo: “The renewal clarified our intentions”

Last Friday's announcement of Fabio Quartararo's renewal with Yamaha until the end of 2026 took everyone by surprise. Not so much because of the continuity, which was a more than solid possibility, but because of how unexpected the speed with which the Frenchman made the decision to continue with his current team was. In fact, he had stated that the renewal would not be so quick, as he wanted to evaluate the progress of the 2024 M1 before making such an important decision.

However, with a contract that will make him the highest paid driver on the grid next season (the salary is around 12 million euros), El Diablo he had no doubts and now hopes that this decision will serve as motivation for the team to continue progressing.

“I'm happy to have announced my renewal with Yamaha. I think this will help us, both me and the team, because we have clarified what our intentions are,” she said in reference to the challenge of emerging from the tunnel in which the Iwata manufacturer is now located. “Now we can fully focus on the work we need to do to get to this point.”

At the moment, Quartararp has only achieved an 11th place at the inaugural race in Qatar, where he finished the Sprint in 12th position. In Portimao, the second stage of the calendar, she improved her numbers, finishing the Sprint in 9th place and obtaining her first 5 points of the season with 7th place in the Sunday race. Thus, he finds himself in 11th position in the general ranking, a performance very far from the one that led him to proclaim himself world champion in 2021.

“I want to bring the victory back to Yamaha and they are motivated to develop the bike,” added the Frenchman on the eve of the Austin weekend. After the Portuguese Grand Prix, in fact, Yamaha had planned a day of testing in Portimao, but the rain and poor track conditions prevented them from completing more than six laps. “We come to Austin with work to do. We missed the opportunity to test in Portimao, so we will have to work hard this weekend.”

Fabio Quartararo, Yamaha Factory Racing

Photo by: Gold and Goose / Motorsport Images

Extra motivation at Yamaha to work

The team's sporting director, Massimo Meregalli, admitted: “We were very disappointed to be forced to cancel the private test in Portimao due to the weather. But it made no sense to put the pilots at risk in those treacherous conditions. This means we will have to make up for lost time on the track. COTA is not the easiest circuit to do this, but we are optimistic ahead of this weekend.”

For Meregalli, Quartararo's renewal also marks an inflection point in the line of work: “Now that Fabio has announced he is resraee, the atmosphere in the team is positive. We're all motivated to work, so we can't wait to get started in Austin.”