Marco Bezzecchi
The 2026 MotoGP season kicks off in Thailand this weekend, and Fabio Quartararo is already frustrated with his Yamaha bike.
The 2021 champion had been pushing for Yamaha to introduce the V4 engine for the 2026 campaign. Quartararo has been putting real pressure on the Iwata outfit to provide him with a competitive machine.
However, pre-season testing would suggest that they are far away from competing. The V4 has encountered numerous issues, including a problem that suspended operations on day two in Malaysia.
Will Fabio Quartararo see out the 2026 season with Yamaha?
What is alarming is that Yamaha are not planning upgrades until Jerez, meaning their riders will be with a pace deficit for the first four rounds. That will not sit well with Quartararo, who has already displayed his anger by showing his middle finger to the bike in Buriram.
Ultimately, Yamaha have failed their primary objective with the V4, as they introduced it to convince the Frenchman to stay, but Quartararo is Honda-bound in 2027. However, part of that failure could be down to the rider’s technical feedback.
Peter Bom calls Fabio Quartararo a ‘spoiled kid’ over Yamaha complaints
The 26-year-old’s frustration towards the V4 went viral on social media. Quartararo’s actions did not sit with Yamaha, nor did it with Peter Bom, who laid into him on the Oxley Bom MotoGP Podcast.
“I rate Fabio a lot for what he can do,” he said. “But I’m actually surprised that he’s still after all these years, is such like, a little bit like a spoiled kid.
“But when he comes, I mean, how much [do] you want to show to everybody in the world that the bike is not good? Jesus Christ, you can’t do that.
Should Yamaha pay less attention to Fabio Quartararo’s feedback in 2026?
“Walk away like that, look at the bike like that. Every time he goes out, he comes back. But this is how he is, when you give him a reasonable bike, he goes very, very fast with it. When you give him a good bike, he’s world champion, because he can do magic.
“But he can’t just accept doing work. I even think he’s a s—– test rider. When the bike is good, he gives everything with it. And then you see how good it can be.
“But you can’t develop something with him. He seems to me the guy that cannot put things in perspective. If the bike doesn’t do exactly what you want and he’s not very fast with it, it’s zero. It’s the worst bike in the world. You can’t do that.”
READ MORE: Everything to know about Fabio Quartararo from net worth to career stats
Mat Oxley says Yamaha’s engineers think Fabio Quartararo is ‘too emotional’ with technical feedback
In response to Bom, Mat Oxley pointed out that Yamaha engineers feel Quartararo is ‘too emotional’ with his technical feedback. Unlike Marc Marquez, in his example, he cannot let go of his emotions and explain what is going on with the bike constructively.
“I mean, speaking to his engineers, they kind of say that the same that he, when it comes to feedback, he is a bit too emotional,” he said. “Emotion clouds what you do. I mean, you think about going back, as always, to Marc Marquez.
“When he comes in, pretty much no matter what’s happened, whether he’s crashed, whether he’s won the race, whether this happened, whether he just comes back into the garage, sits down, takes his helmet off and then starts talking.
“He, on purpose, deletes all the emotion, because he knows that it’s going to be telling. Even before he’s opened his mouth, he’s already telling the engineers what’s going on.
“But it’s actually not very useful, because all it means is he’s p—– off. Why? You know what’s going on. But Quartararo, he should have got used to the fact that he’s not on a competitive bike.
“Suck it up, get over it, shut the f— up, get on with your work. And if you’re feeling sad, check out your bank balance.”
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