Fabio Quartararo reveals the reasons behind Yamaha’s ‘disaster’ at the Dutch Grand Prix

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Fabio Quartararo started the Dutch Grand Prix from pole position and still only just managed to finish within the top 10.

The Frenchman, running a special 70th anniversary livery for Yamaha, had a dismal start to the race at Assen and dropped multiple places before turn one.

It’s well-known that Quartararo’s bike is far more suited to a Saturday than a Sunday this year, and the same was evident at round 10 of the 2025 season.

He has now dropped to 11th in the MotoGP standings, despite being as high as sixth just a few races ago. His pace in race trim has disappeared recently.

Quartararo did one thing ‘perfectly’ at Assen and was taking the final sector superbly over one lap. Even Ducati’s Francesco Bagnaia admitted he couldn’t match him.

Sadly, after Quartararo made a major Yamaha statement for the ‘first time’ by being confident heading into the race, his hopes didn’t quite come to fruition once again.

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Fabio Quartararo shares why Yamaha faced a ‘disaster’ at the Dutch Grand Prix

Quartararo’s biggest ‘problem’ at the Italian Grand Prix was that he qualified ahead of where the bike’s true pace lay.

At the Dutch Grand Prix, it appeared that that was the case once again as he slipped down the field after the start.

He lost time after an incident involving Fermin Aldeguer and Joan Mir forced him into avoiding action and through the gravel.

From there, he struggled to make up for what he had lost, telling the Italian edition of Motorsport.com after the race that he had no grip early on.

“The first lap is a real disaster, we have no grip. In Fermin Aldeguer’s accident, I had to go on the grass and I lost eight or nine seconds,” he said.

“And then, when I’m behind someone, it’s impossible to overtake. That’s all.”

READ MORE: Alex Rins just summed up how MotoGP feel about Fabio Quartararo brushing off shoulder injury at Italian Grand Prix

Why hasn’t Fabio Quartararo abandoned Yamaha’s MotoGP project yet?

Quartararo has been with Yamaha ever since he joined the sport back in 2019 with the satellite SRT team, before a promotion to the factory team for 2021.

He claimed a title in his first season with them, but has been on a slippery slope ever since. The Japanese manufacturer has developed the M1 bike poorly.

Despite finishing just 13th in the standings last year, he has stuck around and continues to back the project, even signing a contract extension in April 2024.

It means that ahead of the new regulations in 2027, he will have a decision to make about his future, but it also gives Yamaha time to prove that they can be winners again.