Marco Bezzecchi
Fabio Quartararo has established himself as one of the best talents on the MotoGP grid. The Frenchman has continued to defy expectations with Yamaha in 2025.
The 2021 MotoGP champion has struggled with the Japanese outfit since claiming the title. He has not reached the same heights as Yamaha have slowly regressed in performance.
But despite this, Quartararo has continued to show his strengths in MotoGP, evidenced by his performances in 2025. The 26-year-old has grabbed four pole positions from the opening 12 rounds, with Marc Marquez topping the table with seven.
While his pace in qualifying has been impressive, his machinery and crashes have let him down, having scored just one podium thus far. Quartararo is bothered by critics saying he’s only fast over one lap, as he emphasises that the bikes change a lot throughout a race weekend.
Sitting ninth in the standings, Yamaha are still some distance away from giving their star rider a competitive bike again. But the Frenchman’s talent is unquestionable, with Giacomo Agostini saying Quartararo is the best bet to beat Marquez when the 2027 regulations come into effect.
Fabio Quartararo ‘went to pieces’ when people told him that he was the next Marc Marquez
Quartararo’s junior career suggested that he was going to be a strong competitor in MotoGP one day. After winning the CEV Moto3 Junior World Championship in 2013 and 2014, people began calling him the next Marquez.
But he could not bear the weight of that expectation as he struggled to be competitive in Moto3 and Moto2, winning his first race in the latter in 2018. Mat Oxley described how Quartararo ‘went to pieces’ because of the hype that surrounded him.
Speaking via The Oxley Bom Podcast, Peter Bom discussed how Pedro Acosta is now going through the same as the Yamaha star: “Since 16, everybody tells him he’s the new Marquez, maybe better.
“How you can stay normal and put things in perspective, it’s almost impossible to do that if people tell you that all the time.” Oxley then replied: “Well that that’s exactly what happened to Quartararo, isn’t it?” before Bom added: “Yeah, almost feel sorry for them.”
Oxley continued: “That’s exactly what happened to Quartararo when he was sort of 14, 15 or whatever and he was in the Spanish championship.
“Everybody’s saying: ‘You are the next Marquez’ and he just went to pieces for two. three years, didn’t he? I mean, yeah, just completely to pieces.
“You lose your way if you’re 15 years old and you’re probably already making some money out of racing and you’ve got nice shiny leathers and a nice shiny team. Really easy to lose your way.”
READ MORE: Everything to know about Fabio Quartararo from net worth to career stats
Fabio Quartararo is losing patience at Yamaha
Quartararo eventually shut out the noise surrounding him and won the MotoGP title in 2021. But even though he became champion, like many other riders, he still has trouble challenging Marquez.
Even if he was on a Ducati, Quartararo says he could not match Marquez in the wet. The Spaniard leads the 2025 championship by 120 points as the summer break nears its end, and it is highly likely that he will win the title next season too.
The Yamaha rider is determined to be champion again, but his frustrations with the bike have led him to put pressure on the factory. Quartararo will decide after the first three or four races in 2026 if he will stay at Yamaha, with the manufacturer set to introduce the V4 bike that year.
He has been incredibly loyal to Yamaha over the years, having had numerous opportunities to move away. Quartararo will be desperate to see the team return the favour.
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