Fabio Quartararo has officially signed a two-year deal with Honda for the 2027 MotoGP season, ending his entire premier-class career with Yamaha.
The 2021 MotoGP world champion made his debut with the Petronas SRT satellite team in 2019 and won the riders' title in his first season as a factory rider. However, victories dried up during the second half of 2022, and despite remaining Yamaha's standout performer, Quartararo has taken just four grand prix podiums across the last four seasons.
An all-new V4-powered Yamaha made its debut late last year, but Quartararo has been openly unimpressed with the rate of progress, and news of a Honda deal emerged before the 2026 season had even begun.
While Honda has also struggled against European manufacturers in recent seasons and lost Marc Marquez as a result, Quartararo is betting that HRC can exploit the regulation shift to 850cc machines and Pirelli tyres to its advantage.
Quartararo's 2027 Honda team-mate remains unconfirmed. Both current HRC riders, Joan Mir and Luca Marini, are set to leave, and it is unclear whether he will be joined in the factory squad by Moto2 star David Alonso or LCR's Diogo Moreira. Honda confirmed on Tuesday that it had signed a multi-year deal with Alonso, though his team placement has not been revealed.
A 10-time premier-class winner between 2020 and 2022, Quartararo took the Yamaha V4's best results with back-to-back top-six finishes at Le Mans and Catalunya this season. He is currently 15th in the world championship on 37 points — more than his fellow Yamaha riders Alex Rins, Jack Miller and Toprak Razgatlioglu combined.
Yamaha will replace Quartararo with another former champion, Jorge Martin, while Rins' seat will go to Trackhouse Aprilia's Ai Ogura.
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