Fabio Quartararo revealed that his number one priority is to “get back to the top” of MotoGP with Yamaha.
The 2021 champion has remained loyal to the Japanese marque despite a significant decline in MotoGP competitiveness since his title-winning season.
Quartararo signed a two-year extension in 2024, which lasts until the end of the 2026 season, earning €12m per year.
Despite becoming the highest-paid rider on the grid, Quartararo’s dedication to the Yamaha project ultimately outweighed the financial incentive.
“For me, the most important thing has always been the project,” Quartararo admitted on Pol Position on DAZN.
“I won’t lie, my decision was also influenced by the economic aspect.”
“There are many things that pushed me to stay with Yamaha. It’s the brand that I always dreamed of when watching Valentino [Rossi].
“It’s the brand that gave me the opportunity to go to MotoGP, and especially to see the internal project that is there now, which is huge.
“Personally, I want to get back to the top with Yamaha.”
Fabio Quartararo describes the ‘brutal change’ Yamaha made
Yamaha has made a massive jump in competitiveness in one-lap performances, with the Nice-born star securing three pole positions in a row at Jerez, Le Mans, and Silverstone.
Despite only one podium finish at Jerez, Quartararo and Yamaha can see the progress made following a disastrous 2024 campaign.
The 26-year-old highlighted the “brutal change” Yamaha has made to improve overall performance.
“The relationship with the Japanese has always been good,” he said. “Although sometimes progress was too slow, but then a lot of Europeans arrived and even the Japanese who were already here became a bit European.
“In the sense that if something works, it’s better. We won’t wait two months to see if an improvement passes the test of so many kilometers.
“If the changes work, we put them in right away, and this is a brutal change that the Japanese engineers have made.”
He added: “We can see that little by little we are coming back.
“In the end, doing many laps at a very good pace is what it takes. You can do one lap, four or five laps, but then you overheat the tyre and you lose.
“That’s what we are working on: finding a rhythm without going too much to the limit and being able to stay with the Ducati.”
Quartararo ‘running out of time’ on Yamaha project
Despite his loyalty to the manufacturer for his whole MotoGP career, Quartararo has admitted he’s “running out of time” if Yamaha fail to offer a competitive bike.
His contract ends at the end of 2026 ahead of the new regulation era, with the Frenchman revealing he would leave for a marque that’s already competitive.
“I believe a lot in this project, but I know that if it doesn’t work out, I will move on to a ready-made project.
“That’s for sure, I’m running out of time, I want to go to a project where the bike is competitive from the beginning.
“If I had to move to another project, I’d go there.”
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