Maverick Vinales denies signing new Aprilia MotoGP deal
Maverick Vinales has refuted claims that he has signed a new deal with Aprilia in MotoGP.
With Aleix Espargaro set to retire at the end of this season, Aprilia are hoping to keep Maverick Vinales in their factory MotoGP line-up and retain some stability for 2025.
Aprilia will have at least one new rider in 2025 due to Espargaro’s decision, but recent comment from Aprilia Racing CEO Massimo Rivola appeared to confirm Vinales for next season.
But the Spaniard admitted this was a miscommunication when Rivola comments were tranlsated.
Denying he has signed anything, Vinales told MotoGP.com: “Basically, the situation was that Massimo [Rivola] said something that when they translated to Spanish, it meant something different.
“So I said that I’m still not confirmed. I didn’t sign any contract. We need to wait. At this point it’s a little bit early to decide.
“We need to understand what is going to be my future. But as of now I have all my focus here. It is the home grand prix for Aprilia so we always want to do really well.”
Vinales has previously admitted that other options are on the table, but when asked about staying with Aprilia, with whom he has made huge progress with, the former Yamaha rider said: “My priority right now is to take out the maximum in every race. This is my mentality.
“That’s my priority because I really want to repeat what I did in Austin.”
On the topic of other manufacturers being interested in Vinales, Honda are the ones who have expressed interest in Vinales.
But while a big money contract could tempt Vinales away, their performance on track has him worried, as shown by recent comments made by the 29-year-old.
Speaking to Motomatters, Vinales said: "At the moment my commitment is 100% with Aprilia for sure. I'm really concentrated on this weekend, but not only this weekend, also in this season, to really put a really nice season ahead.
“But about the future, I still don't know. I don't think too much about the future, to be honest.
"What I think is that I need to find my maximum potential. Do you think there [Honda] I can find my maximum potential? It's difficult. I don't see it.
"Maybe in the future, I don't know, right now it's complicated to think about that.
"But I think really my decision will be just pure performance and trying to really accomplish what I'm doing here."
