Far from being able to contend for the title he claimed in 2021 and nearly defended in 2022, Fabio Quartararo experienced his most challenging season in MotoGP last year.
His talent was not enough to overcome an uncompetitive Yamaha YZR-M1, despite the podiums he managed to secure, always finishing in third place.
Approaching the end of his contract, Quartararo and Yamaha face a crucial year to return to a more competitive level, aided by development concessions.
In an interview, which you can read here, the French rider discussed the challenging past season, the current situation at Yamaha, his expectations and hopes for 2024, and the potential future, including when a decision might be made.
How do you assess your 2023 season?
It was difficult, especially the first part of the season when I didn’t really accept the position that I was finishing in. The second part was much better, especially because my expectation was a little bit lower than last year, than two years ago. Finishing in the top five for me at the minute is a really great result, so I’ve made a few of them in the last races and I think we’ve made a step.
Hopefully we can keep going like that, and improving. But it was a really tough season, especially mentally.
Was there something that made the switch to accept it?
I think, to be honest, I wasn’t even enjoying life. I mean, I was coming home obsessed with why things weren’t working, where we can improve. I wasn’t enjoying it on the track or even at home. I said to myself OK, right now we have to make a change because it was half a season, three or four months, and it felt like three years.
This is what I wanted to change, and it has helped me a lot mentally to stay more focused, to be much more easy and happy with the results that I make. If I give my 100%, but it’s P7, then I have to be happy with what I have made.
Does it help that others like Marc are in the same position?
It helps, because you know how fast Marc is and you can see how much he struggled. I think it’ll be really important also to see next year what he will be doing, and what Frankie will also be doing on the Ducati. Luckily, I’m not the only one.
Will seeing them help to decide your future?
My future will be decided, of course, next year. I don’t know when, but Yamaha is doing something that I’ve never seen. They’ve really put a lot of effort to try and improve the bike. I don’t know if they can do it or not, but I mean of course they are stepping up what they’ve always done and this is something that I like to see.
But of course I want to see some results also. They have hired a lot of people, but I want to see some improvement and that will decide my future.
What do you see differently?
I think the mentality is starting to be a little bit more like the European [one], and this is something that I like. This is something that with the people they hire, even if they’re people from Europe, they listen much more to the people from outside Japan. At the end, if you need help you have to listen to other people and I think in the past they used to listen only to Yamaha people.
Now they’re much more open, and I think this is a big change for Yamaha. This is what I see differently, and for sure from now until March of next year it will be a massive change also.
Will some improvements along with this change be enough to keep you?
I think that if they do half of what I really ask, I will be super happy and it will be a big step in the process of coming back to the top. Of course, if I see Yamaha really pushing and improving and getting closer to the victory, then I want to be a part of it, to be back with them. But they have to show me a lot of things, not only to make me sign with them.
I don’t want them only to show me things to make me sign, because then I still have two more years. I want them to keep going super hard. I think Yamaha is a big brand, and if other brands can do it then Yamaha can do it. I strongly believe that we can come back to the top.
What is on your to-do list for them?
Acceleration, aero, the devices, the turning. They have to come back with the turning that we had in the past. Already with what we had in the past and with the aero a bit better, and more power, we would have improved a lot.
Then of course there’s the devices and everything else are something that’s important but it’s more to be able to ride a little more confidently, to have an automatic device and not pressing it every time in a difficult part of the track.
I really hope that they will being something big, especially for Malaysia.
Have you spoken with Cal to understand what’s coming?
I speak with Cal, but in Valencia we’ll have several things to test that I know are not super big. But the thing is that it must be a first step in the direction that we have to take.
Will you have to manage the expectations at Valencia then?
I expect not a big step in Valencia. You know, from September until November the step is going to be not so big, but it will also be important to understand, even if it’s the same, the direction. Left or right, straight. To know a little bit more. This is going to be super important, and from this moment, from November until February, this is when they really have to make the biggest job they’ve ever done.
Of course they will have the pressure, but you also have to be able to perform under pressure. Not only us.
How much of a difference will Rins bring?
Experience, he will have a lot, especially because he has rode Suzuki in 2022, Honda in 2023 and Yamaha in 2024. I think that it is going to be super important to listen to his comments.
And then, of course, Alex is a super strong rider and I think that we can push each other to be faster.
Was it important for Yamaha to sign someone with inline-four experience?
I think it’s important, because he has the experience of it. For the understand of Yamaha, it was a good thing, and unfortunately he was injured [this year] but he will still bring great experience.
What will make you happy with the 2024 season?
Right now, we are basically in the top ten but of course my personal goal is to be world champion because I am a winner. But realistically, fighting for the top three or four in the championship next year will be something huge. Hopefully we can do it.
Does it make it easier to accept because the series has been crazy since you won?
In the end when I won it was great because I won it with quite a lot of advantage, with two races to go. I won’t say I won easily, but at one stage I had 65 points of an advantage – quite a lot. This is great, and hopefully we can come back to this moment, even like last year, having the feeling of winning, more podiums. This is something super important for me.
How do you see MotoGP right now?
There are so many things to still change. The sprint races, for me I’m still not a big fan, and you can see that we’ve never made a race with all the riders. This is how the new format is, and this is for me a problem. You have no time to prepare the race, you have to always be on the limit, and this means injuries. You can see how many injuries there were this year.
But I think also with eight Ducatis it’s difficult. I think that we are growing, and hopefully the level of every manufacturer can be more qualified.
Will Yamaha’s extra concessions make a huge difference?
It can be a huge difference, but Yamaha in these months have to test. More engines, more testing, me testing – but we have to be clever and bring a lot of stuff. This means that the time we have to build everything must be super quick. Not like before when we always do things six months too late. I will not do a test if we have nothing to try, and I think they understand this.
The concessions will only be useful as long as Yamaha continues to change?
We have made a big step, and we need to continue to work like this. In racing, if there is something that is working, then you needed to have it yesterday. You don’t need to wait three or four months, and I think this is a step that Yamaha needs to understand. Maybe it’s a small thing, but lots of small things in the end is something big. This is I think how it will change our improvements in the future.
Is a satellite team also important?
This will be super important, to use properly a satellite team to improve the bike. Not just to give them two bikes and ‘OK, you have some bikes and you can ride our brand.’ We need to have a proper satellite team to improve our bike, to have some riders who are really eager to take my place in the factory. This is how it works.
When I was in Petronas, the only thing that I wanted was to take Maverick’s or Valentino’s place. This is because I was eager for more, and this is what a satellite team needs. Young riders with eagerness to take my place. This is also what I like.
So having the Moto2 team is a good start?
I hope that in 2025, if things are working well and things have improved, that it’s important to have a satellite team. For me, first of all, I want to see the project of 2024 working and analyse the project of 2025 before we really make any movement.
Do you have a timeline in your head?
No. If it’s an idea, it will maybe be April, May, June, July. Basically this period of time will be the time to say left or right, but I will need time also to see the project and how Yamaha will work. How the concessions will work, because normally if you have money to invest with concessions it must also be fast so that you can see some improvements soon.
There are many factors that we have, and I think that it’ll be important to see all of them.
