Revealed: Fabio Quartararo’s bumper new salary | Who is MotoGP’s best-paid star?
Details emerge about some eye-watering numbers...
Fabio Quartararo’s new Yamaha contract involves some big money.
Quartararo is now the highest-paid MotoGP rider after penning fresh terms to stay with Yamaha until the end of 2026, Motorsport report.
He will be paid a basic salary of approximately €12m per year, the report states.
That’s more than double the pay-packet received by Francesco Bagnaia, the factory Ducati star and reigning champion.
MotoGP riders have performance-based bonuses structured into their contracts, including for race wins and title wins.
But Bagnaia, even if he pockets a bonus for winning the championship this year, would not match Quartararo’s basic income of €12m, before the Frenchman is paid any bonuses.
Marc Marquez was previously the highest-paid MotoGP rider until he left the final year of his €20m-per-season Honda contract.
Yamaha’s big-money offer to keep Quartararo was his best-paid option.
Committing to Yamaha represents a major piece of the 2025 rider market puzzle.
He is the 2021 MotoGP champion, and he narrowly missed out on retaining his title on the final day of 2022.
But his Yamaha’s performance has decreased massively compared to the dominant Ducatis.
By signing on again with Yamaha, it is unlikely that Quartararo can guarantee the chance to fight for the title in the next year or so.
He might even have to wait for the new regulations to kick in, in 2027.
Behind-the-scenes, the renewal of Quartararo’s contract is just one step in the right direction for Yamaha.
They had already recruited two top Ducati engineers - Massimo Bartolini and Marco Nicotra - who have been credited with having an impact already.
And with the benefit of the new concessions rule, Yamaha do have the possibility to increase their competitiveness.
But it won’t be an overnight job and there is likely to be hardships before they fight for the title again.
But with Quartararo, they have guaranteed themselves two more years at least. Although those years come at a massive cost, the highest-price of any rider on the MotoGP grid.
