In the circumstances leading up to the pandemic, both Fabio Quartararo and Joan Mir would rub their hands knowing that their agents use their world titles (2021 for French and 2020 for Spanish) as a means of leveraging the most interesting options, depending on of availability.
The problem for them is that the current situation does not allow them to use an aggressive strategy at the moment. The lack of seats, the politics of some manufacturers such as Ducati and Honda and the cache that Quartararo and Mir conquered, have become allies of Yamaha and Suzuki, whose managers are aware of the situation. For this, neither Iwata nor Hamamatsu seem too anxious about the possibility that their two spikes might change the air.
Last week there was talk of the decrease in salaries that there will be on the starting grid in 2022, with a reduction of about 20% compared to 2018. Neither Quartararo nor Mir are exempt, although in the two cases there are some differences that apply worth analyzing in more detail, starting with the reigning world champion.
Fabio Quartararo, Yamaha Factory Racing
Photo by: Dorna
Not even a week after celebrating his first world title in MotoGP as he deserved, Quartararo carried out one of the first tests of the pre-season, in Jerez, with more doubts than certainties on the M1 that Yamaha had brought to the track. In the absence of other details, this should be the base bike with which to try to defend the title in 2022.
“It’s still early to sign, I don’t want to sign anything before I go to Malaysia, at least. I prefer to see the evolution of our bike first, I think it’s normal. What it isn’t, is signing for 2023 without even starting 2022. I know what I want, I’ll wait a bit to see how Yamaha is doing and how it evolves at Sepang. If I see Yamaha going in a totally different direction, my future here could be compromised, ”he said El Diablo launching a very direct message to Iwata’s top management.
Quartararo arrived in the factory Yamaha team in 2021, but the contract that brought him there materialized at the beginning of 2020. In that year, the French rider raced in the colors of the Petronas team, but his status was practically identical to that of Valentino Rossi and Maverick Vinales, then official drivers of the three tuning fork. As a factory driver, Quartararo had a contract worth around 2.5 million euros, with variables based on the results obtained.
This year, with five wins and the crowning title, the new champion has pocketed around four million euros. A real bargain for the Japanese manufacturer, which in just three years will have gone from spending about twelve million euros, between Rossi’s and Viñales’s salaries, to paying about 5.5, with Quartararo starting at four million euros and Franco Morbidelli from a million and a half.
Inside Yamaha, they are aware of the need to update their first guide’s engagement figures, because at the moment it is well below the status it has earned. Quartararo’s renewal offer will probably be around seven million euros, bonuses aside. As always happens when you increase the fixed amount, the extras that come from the performance of the pilots decrease, so that the amount does not skyrocket in case of success.
In the current state of the grid, and if we look at the needs of the different teams without neglecting their real possibilities, no one outside of Yamaha will pay Quartararo that much money. Basically because no one has this urgency. And the same goes for Mir and Suzuki, from which the Majorcan receives just over seven million euros after the title won in 2020 set this amount as the basis for the following seasons.
To understand the context, it is essential to broaden the focus and try to understand what could be used by the representatives of Quartararo and Mir to use as a means of applying pressure. And here lies the main obstacle: the shortage of teams willing to pay what the French and Spanish representatives believe their drivers deserve.
The first priority of Aprilia and KTM, for example, is to optimize their bikes, before worrying about finding a leader who will allow them to compete for the most coveted prize, the title. Ducati, on the other hand, has implemented a brutal policy of reducing salaries since the departure of Andrea Dovizioso (2020), to the point of having covered the salaries of its five riders (Bagnaia, Miller, Martin, Zarco and Bastianini) with less than 3.5 million euros in total.
“As far as the riders are concerned, we are covered, we don’t need to go looking. Pecco has shown that he can fight for the title, we hope Jack is also in the game. Plus we have a lot of young talents with Martin and Bastianini,” he said. Paolo Ciabatti, sporting director of the Borgo Panigale company, to Motorsport.com.
“Ducati is unlikely to pay the amount that Joan and Fabio want to receive, because they don’t need it,” said Albert Valera, manager of some of the most talented riders in the competition, such as Martin himself or Pedro Acosta, the reigning Moto3 champion. “I think Borgo Panigale is aware of the need to update several contracts of their drivers, which are well below what they should earn. But in no case so much as to achieve what Quartararo and Mir should ask for,” adds Valera.
The situation in Honda, the other major manufacturer that could choose them, is different, because their priorities are different at the moment. It will still be necessary to evaluate the performance that Marc Márquez will be able to have when he returns to the saddle of his bike, starting from this weekend’s Sepang test.
Honda is only interested in knowing how the situation of its top rider will evolve after the two injuries he has remedied in the last year and a half: the first in the arm, which has kept him off the circuit for nine months, and the second in the right eye, which prevented him from taking part in the last two races of last season (Portimao and Valencia), and subsequently in the November tests in Jerez.
Joan Mir, Suzuki MotoGP Team
Photo by: Gold and Goose / Motorsport Images
No matter what the Cervera rider’s current performance is, the Japanese giant will remain committed to the man who led him to win six premier-class titles, out of the nine that have been up for grabs since 2013. It’s hard to believe Honda can opting for Quartararo for several reasons. Firstly, because with Márquez in a position to win the races (in 2021 he achieved three wins without being at his best), Pol Espargaró becomes the perfect teammate, even if his results have been, more discreet than expected, until per hour. Then there is the lack of confidence that the Frenchman can give his best on the RC213V, given the obvious differences with the Yamaha. And finally, the economic aspect.
Mir’s case is similar, although at Honda there is more conviction that the Majorcan has what it takes to deliver what is expected of him with the golden wing prototype. Alberto Puig has already tried to convince the Spaniard when he was promoted to MotoGP in 2019 by offering him a place in the LCR team, but the Spaniard has chosen to sign with Suzuki. Mir, on the other hand, knows that in HRC he would arrive with the label of second driver, while in Suzuki he has earned with his merits to be seen as the spearhead of the project.
“It is normal for Honda to be focused on Marc’s recovery, although, as we have seen in recent years, leaving everything to one card can put you in a risky situation,” summed up Paco Sánchez, Mir’s manager, to the author of these lines. Without saying it explicitly, this rep, one of the most experienced in the paddock (he also takes care of Remy Gardner), agrees that, most likely, the best thing for his client and for Quartararo is not to move from where they are because no one will offer them more than what they already have.
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