Fabio Quartararo will have a decisive year in MotoGP in 2024, especially when it comes to deciding whether or not to continue with Yamaha. Looking to return to the top positions in the championship, and to the performances that meant for him the world title in 2021, there are many expectations surrounding the frenchman, but even more so around Yamaha.
This coming season will be truly crucial for the rider, who continues to wait (in despair) for real improvements in the Yamaha M1: if he was asking for more power before, the japanese manufacturer has partly managed to deliver that, but on the other hand, there is still a lack of grip on several occasions, which complicates Quartararo’s task of keeping up with the rest of his rivals.
Quartararo’s best result in 2023 was fifth place, although in 2021 he was champion, and in 2022 he was in the lead of the world championship with a big advantage over Pecco Bagnaia, but 2023 was a real disaster, with the #20 finishing 10th.
Three third places on sundays, and a third in the Sprint races, and looking at the average speeds in various GPs, Quartararo is constantly in the middle of the table or in the last third, which proves the weakness of his bike, which even gives more value to what the rider himself does, but moral victories are something the former world champion for sure doesn’t want.
After some rumours about a possible «last call» from Quartararo to Yamaha, in which the absence of a truly competitive bike will make him consider going elsewhere, the japanese manufacturer is working hard to provide its riders with more capable equipment, something that Cal Crutchlow – test rider – has been working hard on.
The tests in Valencia didn’t convince Quartararo 100 per cent, with the rider saying that the bike was still ‘a long way’ to the competition, and even revealing that he ‘expected more’, without forgetting that there were ‘some improvements’.
Let us recall the words from the frenchman after the Valencia Tests: ‘Of course, I expected more also from… it was not really a big expectation from this test. But you always try to look high and of course, for me, it was some improvement. But the reality is we are still as far as before. But it’s true that me as a rider, I want to race and fight for victories. And if I have to make extra tests to really perform, I’m happy to do it. But we have to work hard and in a real idea with what we need to get back’.
Even though he mentioned positive points, it remains to be seen which bike Yamaha will present in 2024, and whether it has the ingredients to spice up both Quartararo’s appetite for the current one and enough to make him think about renewal for 2025 and beyond.