Davide Brivio says Yamaha won’t introduce their ‘real’ V4 MotoGP bike until 2027

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Davide Brivio has stated he believes that Yamaha will bring their ‘real bike’ for the 2027 MotoGP season.

It has been widely documented that Yamaha have introduced a new V4 engine for the 2026 season after abandoning their inline configuration.

The Japanese manufacturer have struggled during pre-season testing with their latest engine inside the new Yamaha M1, which has led to riders being unhappy with their new machines.

However, it is expected that Yamaha are using the 2026 MotoGP season as a learning season before the new regulations that enter the sport in 2027.

Former Yamaha boss expects Yamaha to ‘struggle’ in 2026

After the Buriram MotoGP test, the former Yamaha boss, Davide Brivio, spoke with GPOne about the situation his former team are in after a difficult pre-season.

The Italian experienced an engine transition when he was with Suzuki in 2015, as they switched from a V engine to an inline engine. Brivio believes their transition was smoother than Yamaha’s.

Brivio now believes that Yamaha will use the 2026 season as a ‘learning’ season before they introduce their ‘real bike’ for the 2027 season.

Brivio said, “I definitely did not expect a situation like this from Yamaha. They are facing a major epochal change, which is the transition from an inline engine to a V engine.

“During my experience at Suzuki, we made the reverse transition from a V engine to an inline engine when Suzuki returned in 2015. However, the transition was fairly painless in the sense that Suzuki was immediately competitive. There were reliability issues during testing that were resolved. Afterwards, the bike did not have much power, but over the course of a few years, we found that it was a transition.

“I don’t know what is going on at Yamaha, but there is a great team there, they’re very good engineers, with a great deal of experience, and a great deal of know-how, and a big budget. In short, they have everything they need to get back on track.

“This is a transitional period for them. I could be wrong, but they probably did it to gain experience with the V4 while waiting for the real bike in 2027. This year can be a year of transition, learning, having problems, struggling, and then putting everything into practice in 2027.”

Yamaha’s V4 engine has not made an obvious step forward

The Buriram test made it clear that Yamaha’s latest V4 engine for the 2026 season has not improved when compared to the V4 engine that was tested in 2025.

When Augusto Fernandez wildcarded towards the end of the 2025 season with a Yamaha M1 with the V4 engine, he was finishing the Grands Prix between 40 and 50 seconds behind the race winner.

This stat was repeated during the Buriram test as Jack Miller’s race run suggested he would be between 40 and 50 seconds behind the winner in the Thai Grand Prix this weekend.

Yamaha will likely lose Fabio Quartararo at the end of the 2026 season as he is set to join Honda. Alex Rins now hopes that Yamaha will listen to his feedback more than Quartararo’s.