"They are not rookies" - Fabio Quartararo defends outgoing Yamaha MotoGP riders

Fabio Quartararo has defended Jack Miller and Alex Rins’ abilities in MotoGP amid a tough season on the Yamaha, as both have lost their places on the grid for 2027.

Yamaha’s switch to a V4 bike for the 2026 season has failed to propel the Japanese manufacturer back up the competitive order.

After 12 rounds, Yamaha has just 73 points in the constructors’ standings with a best result of fifth for Fabio Quartararo at the Catalan Grand Prix.

Quartararo, who is Honda-bound next year, sits 14th in the riders’ standings on 55 points, while Miller, Rins and Toprak Razgatlioglu are 19th, 20th and 21st.

Miller and Rins are set to move to World Superbikes in 2027, as their tough season left them with no options on the MotoGP grid.

In an exclusive interview with Crash.net, Quartararo defended Miller and Rins’ performances relative to his own on the Yamaha this year, with their struggles further highlighting how far off Yamaha is.

“But the thing is, I think I’m the one with the most experience of the Yamaha,” he said.

“Of course, from this year, the bike is completely different; it’s a completely new way to push.

“The 2025 bike, I knew exactly where the limit was and everything.

“But the V4 is a completely new bike. Toprak, it’s his first year, but Alex and Jack have won races in MotoGP.

“Alex has won with different manufacturers. And they are really, really fast riders.

“They are not rookies, and we know how much we struggle.

“We know what the potential of the bike is now and we really have to make a step if we want to feel great, because we don’t have any strong points compared to last year.”

Yamaha “still really, really far from great results”

Yamaha came into 2026 expecting the first half to be a testing phase for the new bike, but had designs on producing better results in the second part of the campaign.

That appears a long way off, while Quartararo expects there to be no updates on the M1 for the rest of the year as the brand - who he says is “still really, really far” - focuses fully on its 850cc project.

“I think that from now until the end, we will not have any updates on the bike,” he added.

“I think Yamaha is fully committed to the 850.

“I think it’s normal for them, because they know that they are still really, really far from making great results with this bike.

“But unfortunately, we will keep the same base and try to maximise the results we can.”