2021 MotoGP world champion Fabio Quartararo comes off a rough and tumble MotoGP offseason in which the Frenchman tried mightily to get up to speed on the new Monster Energy Yamaha MotoGP V4-powered YZR-M1.
Painfully slow through the speed traps, at a loss for rear grip and far less nimble and agile as the Yamaha M1s that came before, these points were well illustrated at the 2026 MotoGP World Championship opener, the Grand Prix of Thailand at the Chang International Circuit.
Quartararo, the first French MotoGP World Champion, placed an off-song 14th in Thailand. Now hoping for a rebound at the second round of the ’26 MotoGP campaign, Quartararo will now line up for this weekend’s Estrella Galicia 0.0 Grand Prix of Brazil at the Autodromo Internacional de Goiania – Ayrton Senna. In Brazil and staying positive in an effort to get the new M1 sorted out, on Friday the racer out of Nice, France spoke about the Brazilian task at hand.
“I’m just hanging around in Brazil,” said Quartararo from the Brazilian paddock. “The place is amazing. Now it has just rained, but I love the place. Hopefully, we can come back for a holiday and not for work. Yeah, I think the track is good. Of course it is not the perfect track for us because of the long straights. It’s a bit different, but I think, and like always, we will try to do our best and go fast.”
During this past week, Quartararo wrote in a Facebook post, “The energy and culture here in Brazil will, I think, give us an extra boost to continue our work.” Will the Grand Prix of Brazil prove to be beneficial to the Monster Energy Yamaha MotoGP effort?
“I don’t think so,” pointed our Quartararo, who has been with Yamaha throughout his entire eight-year MotoGP career. “I think the most important thing right now is trying to find the base of our bike, but I think it is a difficult thing. We need at least a few months to still understand how the bike is going. Of course I am giving it my best and of course we are trying to figure out how we can go fast and see the potential of the bike.”
Quartararo talked about the Thai Grand Prix and his 14th place result in the MotoGP season opening round.
“In Thailand we had an issue with the engine on the last lap, so of course it was not an easy race,” he explained. “But like I said, the team was trying to do our best and trying to make the best compromise as possible. Right now I think it is difficult to fight for points, so we will just try to do our vest and try to fight for the best results. This is the most difficult thing to take on because actually I am a competitive guy and I want to win and I want to, at least, fight for what I want. But yes, we are trying to do our best and to try to fight. Now we know that we don’t have the potential in the bike to fight for the top 10s right now, but I know my potential and I know what for what I can fight. I’m just trying to understand everything and trying to try and take some positives for my future. And of course I am trying to give the feedback to them and to try and understand the potential of what we do”
Meanwhile, Yamaha is working on the V4 M1 and the word is a new engine may be ready and available for the French Grand Prix in June.
“I think that we can maybe have a small upgrade, but I think it will be a really, really small step compared to what we need, but we need to speed up the process and try to improve our position,” pointed out Quartararo of the M1 research and development process.”
And of any goals and objectives Quartararo would like to meet and achieve during the 2026 MotoGP season?
“I think more of the goal of results is the goal of trying to learn how to prepare my future and to try to understand many things, but in terms of results, I think the future will be tough. I’ll try to understand many things, and I’ll try to give my best,” said the Frenchman. “Of course this is going to be a long year, but I’m just trying to figure out how I can make it go quicker. I want to try and spend the weekends positively because these are difficult times. We are just trying to understand what we can do for the bike. And the bike can be better everywhere because compared to last year, we lost the top speed, the braking, stability at the front and we lost the grip and we lost the power. So it is many, many things and we are trying to find improvement.”
Even this week, rumors have been swirling that 26-year-old Quartararo will leave Yamaha at the conclusion of the ’26 season to take a two-year deal with HRC beginning in 2027.
Before wrapping everything up with him down in Brazil, Quartararo addressed the conjecture.
“Yeah, my future is done,” answered Quartararo when asked about the reality of the situation. “Unfortunately, I cannot tell you anything, but of course my future is done. Mentally, it is good for me and keeps everything quite good. I think that the most important thing right now is trying to achieve my goas and try to spend 2026 in the best way. Of course it has been a tough first month of the season because I expected the bike to be better, but I have to live with that and try to figure out what we can do to be more calm and to spend the year being as fast as possible. That’s the goal.”
