Fabio Quartararo’s frustrations with Yamaha’s new V4 MotoGP bike have boiled over at the Buriram test after he was captured giving the bike a middle finger on Saturday.
Yamaha announced in 2024 that it would be moving away from its long-standing inline-four-cylinder engine design in favour of a V4.
The hope for the project was to help accelerate its recovery back to the front of the field in MotoGP by bringing its engine in line with the rest of the grid.
The V4 project was also seen as the last-ditch attempt to convince Fabio Quartararo to stay with the Japanese brand beyond this season.
However, the V4 project has so far had a difficult start to life, with the 2026 pre-season proving disastrous for Yamaha.
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It lost a day of running at the Sepang test due to an engine issue, with Yamaha benching all of its riders on safety grounds while a diagnosis was made.
Yamaha was able to take part in the final day of the Sepang test, though it appeared to be running at reduced revs on an engine that has so far not shown much promise.
Quartararo having his ‘Marc Marquez’ moment on day one of Buriram test
Quartararo has been less than enthusiastic about Yamaha’s new bike since he first rode it late last year.
A crash on the first day of the official Sepang test saw him suffer a broken finger, with Quartararo electing to skip the rest of the week in order to recover.
Read more: Yamaha’s testing disaster ends all hope of re-signing Fabio Quartararo
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He was back on track again on Saturday’s opening day of the Buriram test, but Yamaha doesn’t look to have made much progress.
As of 3pm local time, its leading rider is Pramac’s Jack Miller in 13th.
MotoGP’s camera then caught a fiery moment from Quartararo on track, where he flashed his new bike a middle finger, before another shot captured him looking distraught in his garage.
It is a scene reminiscent of Marc Marquez’s miserable Germany weekend in 2023, where he gave his Honda the same gesture in a practice session after it almost threw him off.
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Marquez crashed five times that weekend, at a circuit he had dominated on throughout his career, and truly marked the beginning of the end of his time with the Japanese manufacturer.
Quartararo’s frustrations come as he looks set to leave Yamaha anyway for 2027, with the Frenchman heavily linked to a move to Honda.
As of 3pm local time on Saturdaya at the Buriram test, Honda sits third overall with Luca Marini.
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