Fabio Quartararo outlines key factor that gave him the ‘confidence’ to reject Aprilia after talks

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Fabio Quartararo won the MotoGP championship in 2021 with Yamaha. Since then, it has been a dramatic decline for the rider and the team.

The Frenchman has spent his entire career in the premier class with Yamaha since 2019. After his triumph in 2021, Quartararo failed to defend his crown as he lost out to Francesco Bagnaia by 17 points.

The 25-year-old has not won a race in MotoGP since that season. Yamaha have significantly regressed in performance over the last couple of years, finishing bottom of the constructors’ championship in 2024.

Quartararo registered the lowest finish and points tally of his MotoGP career last year. He finished 13th in the standings with 113 points, Teammate Alex Rins only managed 31 points all season.

Frustrations have been clear from the Frenchman after such a huge fall from grace. Quartararo even demanded a number one sticker to be removed as he did not want to live in the past.

Yamaha technical director Max Bartolini gave Fabio Quartararo the ‘confidence’ to stay for 2025 and reject Aprilia

Speaking on the GPOne YouTube channel, Quartararo shared he had discussions with Aprilia for 2025. The Noale-based outfit stopped Ducati from winning every Grand Prix last year through Maverick Vinales in Austin.

Despite Aprilia having a far superior package than Yamaha, Quartararo decided to stay with the Japanese manufacturer. Defending champion Jorge Martin and fellow Ducati rider Marco Bezzecchi went on to join Aprilia.

It seemed an odd decision to stay with Yamaha when a better option was available. But Quartararo revealed that technical director Max Bartolini gave him the ‘confidence’ in the project again.

“We had discussions like the whole world, especially with Aprilia and at the end of August, I think it was September”, he said.

“But I really had many discussions with engineers. I asked many things, basically everything I asked I did to have new people. Max Bartolini arrived who is truly one of the biggest reasons why I stayed and thanks to him.

“Because he gave me confidence in a project that I didn’t have confidence in and I convinced him that it really was him and it gave me the desire to really stay with the project also with the aerodynamics. So that was one of the biggest things”.

Pramac have returned to Yamaha as their satellite team for 2025

Quartararo will remain partnered with Rins for 2025 as the duo hope to improve their fortunes. Yamaha will be given a boost by the fact they will have four bikes on the grid instead of two.

Pramac have returned to the manufacturer as their satellite squad. The team won the riders’ championship with Martin last year with Ducati.

Pramac will be miles away from defending their crown in 2025 with Yamaha machines. But they will prove useful for the factory team to gather data and improve across the season.

Jack Miller and Miguel Oliveira will race with the team this season, Miller is on a ‘prove it’ contract as he is the only Yamaha rider on a one-year deal.