The new bike on which so much is riding for Yamaha makes its second MotoGP race appearance at this weekend’s Malaysian Grand Prix.
But lead factory rider Fabio Quartararo sounds distinctly ambivalent about it.
When the V4-engined Yamaha had its first public outing in the Misano races and test last month, Quartararo was a stark deviation from the rest of the line-up’s mix of optimism and faith in the long-term process. The V4, he felt, still did everything that the inline-four engined Yamahas did wrong.
Asked by The Race if they’d be keeping one eye on how test rider Augusto Fernandez performed on the V4 at Sepang, Pramac Yamaha’s Jack Miller replied “absolutely!” and Quartararo’s works team-mate Alex Rins went several steps further.
“Only one? All the eyes!” Rins replied. “We are looking at Augusto like- well, like he’s God right now!”
Quartararo just felt that while it was “always nice, of course, for Yamaha to test the V4 and everything”, he wasn’t going to be too interested until he tried it again himself in the post-season Valencia test – and that the really, really critical part would be next year’s pre-season Sepang test, when he knew what he’d have to work with in the 2026 season that will define his MotoGP future.
“The two most important things are Valencia and Sepang,” he said.
“Of course, for Valencia I know that the bike will still not be completely ready, but in February here the bike will be almost the one that we will race.
“It’s going to be super important to have what I want in the Sepang test.”
Asked what he needed from the V4, Quartararo replied: “What do I need? I need a fast bike. I need to feel that the bike is a winning bike and a bike that is ready to fight for top three and top five for every single session, every single sprint and every single GP”.
When it was put to him that those were “high expectations”, he responded simply: “That’s my expectation.”
And when another reporter asked whether what he’d seen of the V4 development in recent months made him feel like he would get what he wanted by next February, he replied: “I prefer not to answer the question to not get in trouble”.
Quartararo will obviously be a major player in the 2027 MotoGP rider market, when the majority of riders are out of contract.
He’s already kept faith with Yamaha in an uncompetitive period once when he signed his 2025-26 deal, despite chances to exit to rivals including the now-thriving Aprilia. A pay rise helped that, though Quartararo has indicated this week that it wasn’t as big an increase as was portrayed.
He’s never been subtle about his feelings about his machinery, especially at times when contract talks might be on the horizon. But the prospect of the V4 being Yamaha’s salvation has been on the table for so long now. If he remains underwhelmed by it when it’s a racing reality, Quartararo will be much harder for Yamaha to keep hold of again.
He might be wise not to pay too much attention to the V4 at Sepang, though. Fernandez warned that the engine is not running at its full performance level this weekend because Yamaha chiefs in Japan “want to keep the engine in a safe mode” – something he admits will hurt on Sepang’s long straights. For Fernandez, the V4’s second race weekend is all about “the feelings” in the corners and to keep making progress.
And he thinks Quartararo can be convinced when it counts.
“You have to accept that it’s not ready and you have to really focus on feelings,” said Fernandez. “It’s a bike that we’re still developing, so of course it’s not ready.
“I understand 100% Fabio’s thoughts. He’s ready to win, so he needs to win. And we need to give him the bike to win. And maybe he was expecting the bike already to be ready for it, but we know it’s not.
“It was good to hear his comments for us and what’s next for us. But the good thing is the problems [he’s reporting] are the same problems that I’m having. So the direction is the correct one.
“I know the bike is not ready for him, but hopefully it will be after Valencia.”