“Delicate balance” when Yamaha had Fabio Quartararo and Valentino Rossi

Yamaha have reflected on the “interesting times” and the difficulty of balancing Fabio Quartararo and Valentino Rossi on their books.

Rossi was moved from the factory team to their Petronas outfit for his final MotoGP season in 2021.

He made way for up-and-coming Quartararo to ride a factory Yamaha - and he repaid the manufacturer by capturing the MotoGP championship.

“Taking Fabio to the Petronas team was a decision mainly made by the Petronas team at the time,” said outgoing Yamaha boss Lin Jarvis to MotoGP World.

“It was a bold move and they had nothing to lose.

“And then he beat Franco Morbidelli in his first year and then we negotiated with him to come to the factory team.

“When he came to the factory team we had to move Valentino again because he was at the end of his career. So that was the [secondary] issue.

“But I think in the end the decision was vindicated, because once Fabio joined the factory team he went ‘bang’ and got #1 in his first year.

“These were interesting times and delicate balances and parallel presences and delicate decisions to be made.”

Three years on, Quartararo is reportedly the highest-paid MotoGP rider after penning a new long-term deal to stay at Yamaha.

That is despite the woes experienced by the manufacturer since his championship.

Quartararo was denied by Ducati’s Pecco Bagnaia at the final round of 2022, by which time his bike’s slump had begun.

He has now experienced two seasons without fighting at the front but there is optimism that Yamaha can get back to winning ways.

The addition of Pramac as a satellite team in 2025 will double their riders on the grid, and double their ability to gather data.