Fabio Quartararo didn’t hold back in his criticism of Yamaha’s V4 project during the opening day of practice at the Spanish Grand Prix, once again making it clear he feels the team has done little to address issues he first brought up more than six months ago.
The gap between Yamaha’s 2026 prototype and the rest of the field was clear again in Jerez, with all five factory riders missing out on Q2 during the pre-practice qualifying session.
Quartararo was best placed among them in P17, while Toprak Razgatlioglu continued to show promise even though he posted only the 18th fastest time. To try to get a better handle on their struggles, Yamaha entered Augusto Fernandez as a wildcard for this round.
He ended up at the bottom of the timesheets, while Jack Miller and Alex Rins finished just ahead in P20 and P21.
Fabio Quartararo has hit out at Yamaha following a tough day of practice in Jerez, expressing frustration that the team still hasn’t fixed problems he flagged more than half a year ago.
Speaking to reporters after the session, as quoted by GPOne, Quartararo didn’t hold back:
“The reality is what you see. Being a second off our best time means we’re struggling. But we have to get used to this situation.
“Obviously, when we arrive at the track on Thursday, we want to be competitive and motivated to aim for a good result, but the truth is that we’re far away. The temperature is cooler now than last year, so we should be faster. Instead, we’re way off the pace.
“We need speed, but here in Jerez, that’s the least of our problems. Right now, more than speed, we need a bike that turns, has grip, stops well and gives us confidence in the front. These are things I’ve been asking for since September. The fact is, we haven’t found anything.”
The 2026 season hasn’t started well for Yamaha. Even with Toprak Razgatlioglu joining from BMW WorldSBK and young star Pedro Acosta stepping up from Moto2
This year’s struggles highlight just how much ground Yamaha has lost in such a short space of time.
Quartararo said that the difference between this year’s V4 and last year’s Yamaha model is obvious, even though the 2025 version also had plenty of limitations.
Quartararo broke the lap record at Jerez in 2025 but now finds himself a couple of seconds off that pace.
Asked if he believes the previous bike was better, he told reporters, via GPOne: “Like night and day. Sure, last year’s bike wasn’t the best in some areas, like power and rear traction.
“Now, however, we see that the potential isn’t there at all. We’re working to try to improve but as far as I’m concerned I have zero feeling with the front.”
The team has yet to find any fixes for these concerns either. Quartararo hasn’t held back on his frustrations with Yamaha before and looks determined not to let up any time soon. The issues look deep-rooted — well beyond just engine performance.
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