Fabio Quartararo admits he feels ‘lost’ on Yamaha’s bike after race-ending crash at Czech Grand Prix

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Fabio Quartararo says he no longer knows where the ‘limit’ of Yamaha’s MotoGP bike really is after he crashed out of the Czech Grand Prix.

Quartararo was running 13th when he went down on the second lap at Brno, completing a third straight scoreless weekend.

The 2021 world champion delivered back-to-back top-six finishes at Le Mans and Barcelona, but hasn’t placed higher than 13th in any competitive session since.

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?

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Fabio Quartararo: I knew what I was doing last year, but I don’t anymore

Quartararo suffered nine DNFs last year across Sprints and Grands Prix, which ranked him joint-third on the grid. This year, he has only had two, and one of those was for mechanical reasons.

The Frenchman has been more reliable but less explosive on this year’s bike. He qualified on pole five times in 2025 but has only reached Q3 in three of the first nine races.

The ceiling of the V4-powered M1 is clearly lower at this stage, but Quartararo has also been forced to ride more cautiously because he isn’t in tune with the front-end of the motorcycle.

“The problem is, last year I knew what I was doing,” he explained, via Paddock-GP. “I knew where the limit was, I knew where I could push. But this year, I’m lost regarding the bike’s potential.

“Of course, the potential isn’t there, but even when there’s no potential, there’s a limit. And you never really feel that limit. The front-end feeling you need when you hit the limit at the last moment, it’s just not there.

“There’s no traction, no cornering ability, no power on the climbs.”

Quartararo is absent from Monday’s private 2027 test at Brno because of his impending move to Honda, which should be announced in the coming days. Pramac’s Toprak Razgatlioglu and Yamaha test rider Augusto Fernandez are in action instead.

Earlier this year, Quartararo was withering in his criticism of Yamaha, but that anger may now have given way to apathy for a rider who sits 16th in the championship.