This isn’t the happy homecoming Fabio Quartararo expected for 2023.
After seeing his title lead slip away to Francesco Bagnaia in the final races of last season, the Frenchman was relatively optimistic that this year could be better. The bike he sampled at the post-season test, replete with a new, more powerful motor, appeared to deliver him the step forward he needed to at least put up a sterner fight against the onslaught of Ducati machines.
But that post-season test has been about as good as things have got.
Pre-season testing was a mixed bag, and it took until the final day of the prologue for things to get the new bike to work. But by then it was also clear the step forward wouldn’t be big enough to match a Desmosedici when it really stretched its legs.
And so it’s proved. The bike is only marginally faster in a straight line relative to the competition, but it’s come at the expense of its prodigious cornering speed, the sole weapon in Quartararo’s arsenal last season that so almost brought him a second championship.
Other than the bright spot of an unexpected podium at the Americas Grand Prix — where nine riders retired — the Frenchman has finished no higher than seventh on a Sunday and no higher than ninth in the sprint.
It’s left him 11th in the riders standings and already 47 points behind title leader Bagnaia after only four rounds.
And it’s ringing alarm bells.
“Okay, we lack power, and this means we cannot make the most of the aerodynamics, but we have lost the cornering and the stability,” he told Gazzetta dello Sport.
“We added problems rather than solving them.
“The bike is too aggressive and, above all, every year we lose our strengths.
“The serious thing is that we don’t know what [the problem] is. Every time I enter a corner, I never know if I’ll come out.”
And if you think you’ve heard this all before — if you think this is reminiscent of Quartararo’s complaints early last year before taking the points lead — you’d be only partly correct.
The worry for him is that the concerns have become much more far reaching. This isn’t an issue with this version of the Yamaha M1; it’s an issue with Yamaha itself.
“In the meetings there is often silence, nobody talks,” he said. “Even today nobody knows why we struggle so much, why the bike is so aggressive and I have no feeling.
“This is what pisses me off, seeing the others do these times today in conditions difficult and we don’t even get close
“We struggle and everything is more difficult, not having the data of other riders. Ducati has eight bikes, Morbidelli and I alone are really struggling.”
Quartararo’s contention is that there’s a lack of innovation at Iwata, that the Japanese powerhouse has lost its way.
It taps into the feeling that the Japanese era is at an end as the European manufacturers rise this decade.
Ducati’s constructors title in 2020 was the first for a non-Japanese bike in almost 50 years bar the Italian marque’s single title in 2007. Bologna is now on a three-season championship streak.
Bagnaia’s crown last year was the first for a rider on a non-Japanese bike in the same time period — again, bar Casey Stoner’s Ducati triumph in 2007 — and he’s the overwhelming favourite to do the double this season.
It’s not just Yamaha feeling the squeeze of the Europeans.
Honda is also clearly struggling for pace and inspiration, so much so it’s preparing to take the highly unusual step of fielding a Kalex-built chassis just to try to break out of the rut that’s made it almost impossible for anyone not named Marc Márquez to win on the RC213V.
Part of that is down to the development methodology that delivered these Japanese factories such success in recent decades — constant and incremental improvement.
But the European factories have changed the pace of the game, developing ferociously. They’re unafraid of failure — they see it as part of the learning curve — and the result is that their bikes are able to take significant steps forward rather than improving only gradually, as had previously been the way.
That’s particularly evident in the aerodynamic realm, where the largest performance gains are to be found in MotoGP — and it’s no coincidence that aerodynamics are a key deficiency for Yamaha.
“In 2019 the wings were more or less the same, but the bike was more stable. However, try to look at the Ducati four years ago and now — you don’t recognise it,” Quartararo said, summing up the slow rate of progress.
And before you ask, Quartararo has also considered the logical consequences of Yamaha suffering from a deep-rooted systemic problem that could leave it at the back of the pack for an indefinite period of time.
“Now I just want to think about this year, but the time will come [to think about my contract],” he said. “It will depend on the 2024 bike.
“If it’s like this year’s bike, I’ll definitely have to think of something different.
“I’m not having so much fun.
“The first year of MotoGP was the best; every time I got on the bike I knew that I was the limit.
“In the following years, however, I haven’t seen big improvements. Even in 2021 when I won the championship I didn’t have as much fun as in 2019”.
“In 2022 with Bagnaia I fought to win, today it’s impossible to think of doing so.”
Last year — a contract year — Quartararo made a similar threat to walk if he didn’t see signs of progress with engine power. The team duly delivered more kilowatts during a mid-season test and procured his signature.
But what the Frenchman wants this time around is a far larger change — something that is outside the scope of Yamaha’s approach of gradual improvement.
“The thing that we have to change is much bigger than something small on the bike like a new exhaust. It has to be a big change,” he said earlier in the year. “To make a big change can be difficult, but if we can guarantee an improvement we have to do it.”
Some have suggested Quartararo might be angling for Yamaha to switch to a V4 engine — it’s currently the only manufacturer left running an in-line four-cylinder motor.
But the team is reportedly reluctant to rework the power plant before the new rules in 2027. And in any case, while more power would allow for more aerodynamic freedom, it wouldn’t be a silver bullet, particularly given the team’s apparent lack of understanding about its problems.
Whatever the chosen route, the ball’s in Yamaha’s court to move forward, and it probably has little more than a year to convince Quartararo to stay in the process.
THE FORECAST
But after a fortnight’s break from the last disappointing race in Jerez, Quartararo can at least look forward to home-crowd support this weekend in Le Mans.
“It’s my home GP, so I’m looking forward to seeing and hearing the fans,” he said. “I want to keep a positive mindset, do my best and hopefully get some good results.”
But even he couldn’t help but admit that really good results are likely to be hard to come by on this circuit layout, which is all about slow-speed cornering performance and acceleration onto the long straights — key weaknesses of his bike.
“Basically yes, [it’s a worry],” he said, per Crash. “It’s a point where we need to improve, slow corners onto the straight.
“In first gear you need more downforce to be able to use more power … but we cannot use the big wing because we lose too much in the top speed. Every problem is having several [related] difficulties.
“The limitation is power.”
Could there be hope in a mixed weather forecast? Rain is on the radar for the sprint and at around race time on Sunday, which would offer a random element to help the Yamaha bikes close the gap.
But rain in practice would be a hindrance given the team is hoping to further evaluate parts brought to the post-Jerez test last week, further slowing any progress on offer this year.
THE FORM GUIDE
Francesco Bagnaia leads Marco Bezzecchi by 22 points at the top of the riders championship after an almost flawless Saturday and Sunday in Jerez, including a gutsy grand prix victory. It was the performance he needed after crashing out of the lead in Austin and slipping up in the wet in Argentina, reviving uncomfortable questions about his temperament under pressure.
But KTM arrives in sizzling form. Brad Binder won his second sprint in Spain last time out — he’s tied 2-2 with Bagnaia for Saturday wins — and finished runner-up on Sunday, with teammate Jack Miller just behind him in both events.
The Austrian bike is getting stronger round by round, and both riders are targeting regular podiums.
Last year’s French Grand Prix was won by Enea Bastianini after a duel with Bagnaia that saw the eventual champion crash out of the race. Jack Miller finished a close second ahead of Aleix Espargaró, one of the several riders in need of a morale boost this weekend.
HOW CAN I WATCH IT?
The French Grand Prix is live and ad-break free during racing on Kayo and Fox Sports.
Friday practice is at 6:45pm (AEST) and 11pm.
Saturday starts with free practice at 6:10pm followed by qualifying at 6:50pm and the sprint at 11pm.
Sunday gets underway with the warm-up at 5:45pm ahead of the race at 10pm.
