MotoGP | Quartararo: “The Yamaha project is still confidential, but it's huge”

The news of his two-year renewal with Yamaha essentially stunned almost the entire MotoGP paddock, so it was practically inevitable that Fabio Quartararo was the most awaited man when the MotoGP caravan landed in Austin. In fact, all the journalists were eager to ask him what had pushed him to continue the relationship with the Iwata manufacturer after a disastrous 2023 and a 2024 that started along the lines of the previous year.

Certainly the salary must have been one of the attractive arguments of the Japanese, given that we are talking about 12 million euros. A figure that makes him the highest paid driver in the premier class lineup. “El Diablo”, however, placed emphasis on other aspects and in particular on the enormous relaunch project which has already begun to take shape, but which should bear fruit especially starting next year.

“We spoke with several manufacturers and obviously the decision wasn't easy. In Portugal I had an excellent meeting with the Yamaha management, who explained the project to me between now and the end of the year and then for 2025 and 2026. I'm there several things that are still reserved, with new figures that will arrive, but it will be a huge project. So I made my decision in Portugal”, said the 2021 world champion in the press conference that opened the Grand Prix of the Americas.

When his constant complaints about the poor performance of the M1 were brought to his attention, he continued: “First of all, this year I have never complained. In essence, I have described our reality. As I said before, the The project looks more towards the future than the present. It started in January, with the engineers who arrived from Ducati and I think it will take some time.”

“It's true that last year I complained a lot, but this year Yamaha has made a big change in mentality, even in the way of working, which is totally different, but the reality is that right now we are still very far from the top riders. We need more time to get closer, so in the first two races I didn't complain, I just illustrated what we are experiencing right now”, he added.

Then the Frenchman returned to the arguments that convinced him to commit to Yamaha for another two years: “One of the reasons is also the budget available to improve the bike, which is very high. As I said before, the arrival of Max Bartolini from Ducati I think will bring us some excellent ideas and that Yamaha can improve rapidly. This year I think it won't be easy, because we started a little too late, although I think we will already see progress towards half the season. And I hope that next year we can fight for much higher positions.”

“In Portugal I received a lot of information that convinced me to stay. First of all, the future that Yamaha started building starting in January. I think what made me want to stay is how we are totally changing the way we work. Already from the tests in Malaysia, when there was something that didn't work, the new engineers found a way to solve the problem. As I said, there are these still confidential projects for the future that will be something huge. Yamaha will invest a lot in this project. Furthermore, this will be my sixth year with them and I saw that they really wanted to keep me. This was also important on their part”, he concluded.