Marco Bezzecchi
Fabio Quartararo’s farewell to Yamaha was threatening to become bitter, but now the atmosphere has changed.
It emerged during the winter that Quartararo will join Honda in 2027, though Yamaha only confirmed his departure at the end of June.
In the early rounds of the season, Quartararo was strongly critical of Yamaha as he scored just 11 points in four weekends. But he has now come to realise that this was counterproductive, even if his frustration was understandable.
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?
Yamaha’s ‘season in two parts’ plan is now playing out
Quartararo and Yamaha have entered the summer break on a relatively positive note. He has finished in the top 10 in each of the last four races, including Sprints – his best run of the year so far – and he qualified on the second row at the Sachsenring.
Importantly, there are signs of encouragement elsewhere in the Yamaha ranks too. Pramac rider Jack Miller made just his third Q2 appearance of the year at the Sachsenring.
“It’s the first time I’ve heard a Yamaha rider say the bike was quite good,” journalist Mat Oxley reported on the Oxley Bom podcast. “He says, ‘The only thing we’re lacking now is horsepower.'”
Yamaha’s 2026 season seems to be panning out exactly as technical director Massimo Meregalli predicted at the launch.
“We are starting from zero, almost,” he said at the time. “Maybe I’ll split the season into parts – the first one where we will try to get used to the new bike, a learning process.
Jorge Martin thinks Honda and Yamaha will return to form in 2027 👀 How do you think they will fare with the new regulations?
“Then in the second, we expect Fabio and Alex to gradually improve their results. We already know that we have a lot of work ahead of us!”
Clearly, this is not enough for Quartararo to be satisfied, and certainly not enough to induce second thoughts about his move to Honda. He still enters the break 14th in the championship and his demeanour in the media is largely apathetic, if no longer incendiary.
But Yamaha have faced almost relentless criticism both from their own riders and the media this year, so it’s only right that their progress is recognised too.
The V4 bike is now approaching the level of competitiveness that the inline four showed last year. That in itself would be a developmental achievement.
The horsepower deficit remains, as Miller said, but Yamaha have already been clear that the final version of the bike won’t arrive until Valencia. Besides, 2026 was always going to be a building year before the regulation changes, effectively 12 months of training with the V4.
Yamaha are perhaps exactly where they expected to be at this stage of the project. If their current trajectory continues, then the faith placed in them by Jorge Martin and Ai Ogura will increasingly look justified.
With positive rumours about the 2027 Yamaha bike emerging from testing, the team can finally start to look forward with excitement again.
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