Fabio Quartararo, the 2021 MotoGP world champion, is using his final races with Yamaha to prepare for his "next chapter" at Honda HRC, ahead of the new 850cc/Pirelli era set to begin in 2027.
The French rider, currently 14th in the championship after a seventh-place finish at the German GP at the Sachsenring, said he wants to push his Yamaha V4 to the limit to learn as much as possible before the team switch, acknowledging that changing manufacturers won't automatically solve everything.
"I prefer to finish P7 than P15, so it will be my way of being motivated until the end," Quartararo said. "I know that [such results] will not really change anything for me, but I want to be ready for next year, because it's not because I change [to Honda] that everything is going to be perfect."
The move, not yet official but widely reported, will see Quartararo leave Yamaha after several difficult seasons during which the Iwata-based manufacturer lost ground to European rivals. Early indications from 850cc testing suggest Aprilia and Ducati remain ahead.
Quartararo stressed the importance of continuing to grow as a rider: "In my new chapter, for sure I will have some difficult moments, but this is why I want to push until the end [at Yamaha] because I think I still have many things to learn."
Honda has scored 109 constructors' points this season compared to Yamaha's 69, but both manufacturers will return to D status (the lowest concession ranking). The next race is the British GP at Silverstone (7-9 August), where Quartararo will seek redemption after the ride-height device failure that cost him victory in 2025.
Sources
- Crash.net — Quartararo using final Yamaha races to prepare for Honda MotoGP move: https://www.crash.net/motogp/news/1101091/1/fabio-quartararo-using-final-yamaha-races-prepare-honda-motogp-move
