Marco Bezzecchi
Yamaha boss Paolo Pavesio has told Fabio Quartararo that his public expressions of frustration won’t ‘generate’ any performance.
Yamaha pivoted from their underpowered inline four engine to a new V4 for 2026. While the team expect long-term gains, they were also braced for a short-term regression.
That’s exactly what they’ve seen in the early rounds of the season. Yamaha were already the slowest team in MotoGP but their four bikes have been detached at the back of the field at some events.
What have you made of Fabio Quartararo’s attitude at Yamaha this season?
Are you sympathetic, or do you feel he's showing a lack of respect?
Fabio Quartararo reminded that he’s ‘representing a manufacturer’ at Yamaha
Quartararo, a world champion who hasn’t won a race for almost four years, has perhaps given the most explosive interviews of any rider this season.
After round three in Austin, Quartararo said Yamaha had ‘no idea’ how to improve their bike.
And when the season resumed at the Spanish GP following an enforced break, Quartararo admitted he’d ‘lost his love for riding’, such were Yamaha’s struggles. Those are only two examples in a prolonged trend.
But Yamaha managing director and team principal Pavesio wants Quartararo to focus on helping the team and representing the brand, two areas where he has improved in ‘the last few races’ after a morale-sapping start to the year.
Did Yamaha make a mistake re-signing Fabio Quartararo in 2024?
“I’ve had the opportunity to tell Fabio, both privately and a couple of times in public, that frustration is a humanly understandable feeling, but it’s essentially a useless feeling when you’re working, because it doesn’t generate anything,” Pavesio told Moto.it.
“A rider’s job is to go fast on the track – Fabio always does – but it’s also to represent a manufacturer, a team, many people. And a rider’s results also depend on the team.
“The winter was complicated. In my opinion, Thailand was a bit of a downturn, in a negative sense. We talked about it seriously, as is right in certain situations.
“Personally, I’ve found Fabio’s attitude to be completely different in the last few races.”
Paolo Pavesio: I don’t regret giving Fabio Quartararo a new deal
Pavesio also reminded Quartararo that he wasn’t forced to stay. In 2024, he rejected the chance to move further up the grid for a lucrative contract extension.
The team don’t regret that decision, even if Quartararo’s demeanour has brought negative publicity at times. El Diablo was responsible for all three of their podiums and all five of their poles last season.
He continues to lead the way this year, having followed up an impressive P6 at Le Mans by steering through Catalan GP chaos to finish P5.
“I didn’t sign the contract, he signed it with Yamaha,” Pavesio said. “So I think the situation is more relaxed now, and it should be, because Fabio is a very important part of the project that allows us to improve throughout the year.
“Signing a champion who accepts an offer and wants to stay is the right thing to do. I absolutely don’t feel like saying it was a bad choice.”
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