Managing Director of Yamaha Motor Racing and Team Principal of Monster Energy Yamaha MotoGP, Lin Jarvis, explained the contractual situation of Frenchman Fabio Quartararo.
Yamaha have been working on both the technical and contractual side of things at this early stage of the season. Lin Jarvis and the Iwata-based team management will have to try and convince the World Champion titleholder to renew, and it seems that the new YZR-M1 does not meet the rider’s needs in terms of engine power.
Speaking to Speedweek.com, Lin Jarvis explained that the Frenchman needs time to regain confidence:
– In an ideal world, we would have made everything clear early on this year as well, as far as rider suitability for 2023 is concerned. But we were not in the position to do that. Basically, Fabio needs the feeling of trust in us when he decides on a new contract for 2023 and 2024. But I don’t think the results in Indonesia or two weeks later in Argentina will have a big impact on his decision. Fabio knows the package he has for the coming season. What interests him is the package he will get at Yamaha for 2023 and 2024. I think we need to take some time. We’ve taken some of the pressure off now. We no longer exercise any time pressure.
He continued: ‘Because we understand Fabio needs to regain confidence in Yamaha and feel good about himself. Then he will continue to rider for us in the future. Nevertheless, we hope that the decision will be made as soon as possible. But we haven’t set a specific deadline. We are in close contact with Fabio and also with his manager. We spoke in Qatar, of course, and we’re still in regular contact. We are monitoring the situation and hope that Fabio will trust us and continue to ride for Yamaha in the future. Our top priority is to renew his MotoGP contract and continue to compete with Fabio for the next two years.’