Yamaha looks to be facing an even harder 2026 MotoGP season than anticipated, after a grim Thai Grand Prix led the marque to cancel its rider media duties.

The Japanese brand’s new V4 project is hoped to return it to its former glory in the premier class, following years of decline since it won the 2021 title with its previous inline-four bike.

But the M1 has yet to prove competitive in any metric, with the bike slowest through the speed traps, struggling for rear grip, and seemingly proving less agile than its predecessor.

The leading Yamaha on the grid was Fabio Quartararo in 16th, with the Frenchman almost 0.9s away from topping Q1, let alone getting anywhere near pole position.

In the grand prix, Quartararo led the quartet of M1s in 14th, though he was 30.823s away from race winner Marco Bezzecchi on the factory Aprilia.

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On race pace, Bezzecchi lapped at an average of 1m31.390s, which includes a mid 1m33s and a low 1m34s on the final two tours.

Quartararo, by contrast, averaged 1m32.468s, lapping over a second off the pace of the race leader around one of the shorter circuits on the calendar.

Yamaha media blackout a worrying sign

Yamaha made no secret of the fact it came into the new season viewing the first half of it as an extended test.

The very public mechanical dramas that robbed it of a day of testing at Sepang were a visible sign of the problems Yamaha faces right now.

As were Quartararo’s outbursts during the Buriram test. But Alex Rins also didn’t sound pleased after the last day of testing when he was told Quartararo would be getting one of his bikes, hinting at more behind-the-scenes tensions.

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Feedback from the riders during the Thai Grand Prix weekend was hardly enthusiastic, with Quartararo noting that he wasn’t expecting any new engines until May, and feels there is no clear development direction yet.

At the chequered flag at Buriram, Yamaha was 14th, 15th, 17th and 18th, representing its worst start to a season in the modern era.

It’s not uncommon for riders at flyaway races to skip on Sunday media duties due to flight times.

However, a manufacturer keeping its riders away from microphones and replacing them with a senior management figure is rare – and never a positive sign.

Yamaha chief Paolo Pavesio addressed the media on Sunday afternoon at Buriram, with Spain’s Motorsport reporting him as saying: “Right now, I think it’s right for me to explain where we are.

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“We are at a point where we see the difference that separates us from the fastest, and we have a mountain to climb.

“It won’t be overnight, there’s no magic. Every time we go out on the track we discover things.”

Reading between the lines, Pavesio sees its current competitive standings as Yamaha’s new normal for the foreseeable.

This has already cost it Quartararo, who looks poised to join Honda, though Yamaha appears to have lucked into some solid signings in the likes of Jorge Martin and Luca Marini.

Still, Yamaha’s media blackout at Buriram has shades of the humiliating public apology senior management gave to the assembled media in Austria in 2017 while both Valentino Rossi and Maverick Vinales sat waiting to answer questions.

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It would take Yamaha five seasons from that point to be champion again in MotoGP. After the 2026 Thai Grand Prix, it’s hard to see how it is any closer than that to the same goal.

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