Miguel Oliveira ‘surprised’ to lose Pramac MotoGP seat as he ‘signed up to suffer’

Miguel Oliveira says losing his Pramac MotoGP ride “came as a little bit of a surprise” as he “signed for a one-plus-one” deal where he was expected to “suffer” in 2025.

The 30-year-old joined the Pramac squad on a deal that was meant to take him to the end of the 2026 season.

However, he has now revealed following news that Jack Miller has been chosen to remain at the Yamaha satellite over Miguel Oliveira that he had a performance clause in his contract which was not met.

Oliveira missed four grands prix due to injury and has failed to breach the top 10 so far, with the Portuguese rider scoring just 10 points in 14 rounds.

Speaking about the news, he told the official MotoGP website that Toprak Razgatlioglu’s “surprise signing for next year was “added pressure” for him upon his return from injury.

“I mean, before Balaton I was instructed about this decision,” he said.

“It came as a little bit of a surprise.

“In 2024, I signed up for a one-plus-one year project where we knew the first year was going to be sort of a learning year that we need to suffer [through] and probably finish some races fighting for not so worthy positions.

“But that’s what I signed up for, and unfortunately I suffered an injury in the beginning of the season where I missed a lot of races.

“And then just when I came back from that, we all knew the signing of another rider.

“So, that also came as a surprise, as an added pressure. So, it’s something that interrupted in a phase where it had more potential to give. But it turns out life is like this and we move forward.”

Injury and “not good enough” bike cited for Oliveira’s struggles

Oliveira suffered a shoulder injury in a tangle with Fermin Aldeguer during the Argentina Grand Prix sprint, which proved to be more serious than initially thought.

This stunted his adaptation to the M1, but he also blames the overall lack of speed from the M1 at times in stopping him from meeting the results set out in his performance clause.

“My situation was pretty clear because I had a performance clause in my contract, which was not fulfilled partly because of the the injury but also because in some races the bike was not performing good enough and I could not show my potential.

“And either way, to finish last is something that is not in my plans as a rider.

“It doesn’t really show my true value and my capabilities. So, either way it was going to be tough to continue like this.”

Oliveira has been linked to test rider roles in MotoGP, as well as possible World Superbike moves for 2026.

On what’s next, he said: “The future is absolutely open for me at the moment.

“So, I’m looking forward to it. But at the moments just thoughts floating around.”