MotoGP | Yamaha, Meregalli asks for time: “We are not magicians”

Yamaha has changed its mentality, or at least is trying. But the efforts made over the winter, hiring high-level technicians such as the new technical director Max Bartolini and trying to give the M1 shapes more similar to those of the competition's bikes, have not yet given the desired results.

In Qatar, Fabio Quartararo won what Joan Mir called the “Japan Cup”. Curiously, the Japanese bikes found themselves all, or almost all, fighting for 11th position in the long MotoGP race. But the problem is not so much the placing, but rather the 17-second gap suffered by the winner Pecco Bagnaia, which led “El Diablo” to talk about a Yamaha further away than ever in the post-race.

In reality, according to team manager Massimo Meregalli, things didn't go too differently from what the Iwata manufacturer had expected after the pre-season. For the Italian manager, in fact, the worst mistake to make in this phase in which the objective is to get back on top is not being realistic and deluding oneself into thinking oneself is more competitive than what the reality of the facts shows.

“Fabio has done what he could for the moment. We are realistic. We had already seen what we could do here fifteen days ago during the tests, when we did the race simulation, we had already seen the level. Obviously we are not happy, but we are realistic and objectives. We have listed the things to do, but it takes time”, Meregalli told Canal+.

“We are making progress, we have improved top speed and aerodynamics, but we need to make further progress. We have a lot of work to do. I am disappointed, yes, but also satisfied, but we have done what we could. We have collected data, we have made progress after the Sprint because we had a degradation problem. It also happened on Sunday but less.”

“The work takes time. We have changed some things and now we really know what we want to do and where we want to go, but it takes time. We are not magicians. It takes time to do things. We know what we have to do, but it takes time to get there,” he added.

Meregalli therefore asks for time to allow the new working system to produce results, but what we need to understand is whether Quartararo will be willing to give it to Yamaha. The 2021 world champion's contract will expire at the end of this year, like those of most of the top riders on the grid, so he will hardly be able to wait too long when the market starts to move if he doesn't want to risk being left holding the bag. “Maio”, however, seems to have faith in the patience of his driver.

“Fabio works well and tries to be calm, he understands the situation. Maybe at the beginning of last year he was very nervous and disappointed. Now he understands that this is the situation. We don't have time in the races, but he accepts the situation and we are working in the best way possible, in the same direction. Fabio's work this weekend, even if it's only the first, was good, it's just a different way of working”, he explained.

“A few years ago he was just trying to win, now he works with the aim of progressing, gathering as much information as possible and doing tests. We have already tried some new things at Mugello and we will do the same at Portimao. The program is quite extensive and we will have to cover it as much as possible,” he concluded.