Vinales was the focus of a silly bombshell of the season at the Dutch Grand Prix this weekend after news broke from the paddock that he could leave Yamaha at the end of the season and join Aprilia for 2022.
The Spaniard may have a deal with Yamaha until the end of 2022, which was signed early last year, but the relationship between the two parties has deteriorated this season.
Autosport reported on Saturday that the deal for Vinales to leave Yamaha and join Aprilia wasn’t finalized on Sunday, but both Yamaha and Vinales are looking for an amicable exit from their contract.
After experiencing his worst MotoGP weekend in Germany last week, where he qualified 21st and finished last, Vinales said Yamaha’s reaction to his problems this year seemed disrespectful.
After Vinales finished second 2.7 seconds behind teammate Fabio Quartararo in Sunday’s race at Assen, Vinales denied his Aprilia connections with DAZN, but admits that he has been thinking about leaving Yamaha since the beginning of the season.
Maverick Vinales, Yamaha Factory Racing
Photo by: Gold and Goose / Motorsport Images
“No, that’s not true,” he said when he was asked by DAZN if he was going to Aprilia.
“Now we’re going into the summer break and we’ll see.
“Of course it’s an option [leaving Yamaha], I’ve been thinking about it since the start of the season because I can’t show my full potential [with the Yamaha]I can’t tell you more. “
Vinales dropped from pole to fifth after a clutch problem at the start and “had nothing left” to catch Quartararo after working his way back to second on lap 15.
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“At the start I don’t know why the clutch was burnt, then overtaking was impossible [Takaaki] Nakagami, ”he added.
“Then in the end I had nothing left to catch up with Fabio.
“It wasn’t a bad race, the only thing was that the front tire was flat behind the people, but that’s no excuse.
“I went out with the soft tire because I knew I had very good pace in the second half of the race. I thought I could do a little more, but the truth is, I didn’t have that, what I had. ” yesterday.
“We couldn’t finish, it was a good weekend, but passed Nakagami and Pecco [Bagnaia] was difficult, especially Taka, I lost half a second behind him.
“The start punished me, but I couldn’t make up any position on the straight. It’s important to go home with a podium. “