Yamaha’s “complex” MotoGP development plan “needed” to get back to the top

Yamaha team boss Paolo Pavesio says the brand’s “complex” engine development path, which includes the new V4, is “needed if we want to be back where we want to be”.

The Japanese marque went from winning the title with Fabio Quartararo in 2021 and fighting for it again in 2022 to dramatically dropping off the pace in the ensuing years.

The 2025 season has seen some signs of progress, with Quartararo on pole four times and taking two podiums across grands prix and sprint.

As it looks to continue this upwards trend, Yamaha is developing a V4 engine for the first time alongside its current inline-four cylinder motor.

While it is hoped that the V4 will be race ready for 2026, Pavesio admits Yamaha is “still not sure” this will be the case.

At the same time, it is also working on the 850cc engine formula change for 2027.

Pavesio has branded Yamaha’s current development plan as “complex”, but concedes that this is a necessary evil if it has any hope of getting back to the front again.

“It’s pretty clear that being the only one with a certain kind of configuration, we had to take a bold decision - which we took,” he said during the German Grand Prix weekend.

“And we had to move into this new engine configuration, for sure for 2027, and knowing that for us it’s somehow a bit of unknown work.

“The bikes are changing, the balance of the bike is changing. So, you need to learn things.

“So, this is why we have anticipated the effort and maybe build one bike for one year because we are still not sure that we’ll race in ’26 with the new V4-based machine even if this is clearly the target.

“We need to start to collect new information and learn a new configuration looking to ’27, but potentially for ’26.

“This is why we are doing what we are doing. It’s an incredibly challenging but also exciting moment.

“We’ve tried to do as much as we can on the current bike to make it more competitive, and we have already seen a clear performance increase.

“We are developing a bike for ’26 and we are also in parallel working on the bike for ’27.

“It’s complex, it’s exciting, but it’s also needed if we want to be back where we want to be.”

Yamaha has been testing the V4 privately already this year, but current feedback is that it is not yet fast enough to match the current inline-four.