Equipped with a revised factory line-up and a new bike that aims to address the inconsistencies of its briefly successful but subsequently maligned predecessor, Yamaha nonetheless headed into the 2021 MotoGP season opener with expectations firmly in check.
The M1 was supposed to struggle to make overtaking moves, and get demolished by the Ducati Desmosedicis on the main straight. Not only that, but Yamaha missed out on pole at the Losail International Circuit for the first time since 2015.
Yet despite slumping to eighth at the start, Maverick Vinales was able to scythe through the field and take what was in the end a fairly convincing win – his eighth in Yamaha colours.
And with Yamaha top of the riders’, teams’ and constructors’ championship after the first race, we’ve thought it appropriate to ask whether this finally looked like its year to return to MotoGP title glory.
Too early to say, but the signs are good
Simon Patterson
I’d love it to be, but it’s just too early to make that call given that this wouldn’t be the first time that we’ve seen a Vinales false dawn at the start of the season.
He did the exact same thing in Qatar in 2017, when he won three out of the first four races before completely falling apart again, and we really need to see how he goes in Europe before making that call.
In saying that, though, this year looked like the first time he’s actually turned up to a race weekend and done what he said he was going to do. A big fan of making plans, all too often he says he’s going to do A, B and C when the season starts only to actually deliver X, Y and Z. On Sunday, we saw his A game though, and that’s a very strong sign.
On the other side of the garage, Fabio Quartararo showed some newfound maturity as well. He didn’t so much get beaten in the title race last year as he lost it himself, by being exceptional on his good days and nowhere on his bad days.
He had a bad day on Sunday, but instead of falling through the field, he regrouped, pulled himself together, and salvaged valuable points from that. More of the same will aid him hugely.
Is Crutchlow Yamaha’s game-changer?
Valentin Khorounzhiy
There are many reasons not to take this Yamaha win too seriously as far as longer-term implications are concerned. Not only has the firm won three of the five season openers since a Yamaha rider was last champion, but we’ve basically seen this exact kind of Qatar race from Vinales before – in 2017 he started on pole, was down to fifth on the opening lap and fought back through to win.
Vinales knows this, so he’s been fittingly cautious in his post-race address. But there’s one thing within his words that fills me with more optimism than before regarding Yamaha.
According to Vinales, the signing of Cal Crutchlow is already paying off and having tangible results.
This makes total sense, in that Crutchlow has both a ton of experience riding other MotoGP bikes and has been a major contributor to Honda’s run of titles with Marc Marquez – helping craft a bike on which at least Marquez, though obviously himself a genius, could maintain an ultra-consistent level of performance with a really high baseline even on ‘bad’ weekends.
At the very least, Vinales singing Crutchlow’s praises felt like something different – and if it reflects genuine change within Yamaha, that can only be a good thing given what happened to its recent title charges.
The win just disguised Yamaha’s problems
Fatema Chowdhury
No, this doesn’t look like Yamaha’s year. Well, it really depends on the parameters, if we’re talking riders and teams’ titles then definitely no. If we’re talking improved form from 2020, it’s too soon to tell.
Besides Vinales’ victory, Yamaha was pretty tepid in the race.
Quartararo had a strong-ish start, despite being mobbed by the Ducatis, but couldn’t really keep up the pace to battle it out with the frontrunners and ended up fifth.
I had such high expectations for the satellite team, but both riders seemed to drift off the face of Losail.
A potential hole-shot device issue had Franco Morbidelli riding at the back of the field, he barely recovered places and finished 18th.
Valentino Rossi teased us with a second row start for the race but he too drifted down the order to 12th place.
As Petronas Yamaha SRT standards go, especially after last year’s run of six wins, that was woeful.
It looks like Yamaha’s race-start troubles will continue in 2021, which could be even more problematic given the re-energised Ducati red rockets.
And I’ve fallen for Yamaha’s early season success in the past, but as the season goes on, the teams and riders start to become undone. Last year was a prime example of that, so I’m not going to jump the gun just yet.
But that being said, Vinales did appear to be the most rejuvenated he’s been in a long time. This psychological advantage coupled with an improved feeling on the M1, which he credits in large part to test rider Cal Crutchlow and them both having a similar riding style could see him and opposed to his fellow Yamaha compatriots compete consistently for podiums and wins.
We need more evidence
Glenn Freeman
A Yamaha win at a power-sensitive circuit, that is so often regarded as Ducati territory, is a very good sign. As is the fact Vinales had to fight his way to the front, which Yamaha riders couldn’t do last year.
But this can’t be taken as definitive proof that this is Yamaha’s year. The way the rest of the M1s were scattered around the field was concerning, and suggests that there may still be an inconsistency with the bike.
So one rider getting it right on the day doesn’t mean too much: Yamaha managed that scenario plenty of times last year, too.
We’ll need a few races to know if Vinales really has got his mindset right for this season as well. He’s made an excellent start, but he’s yet to put together a full season of consistent performances with Yamaha, so one weekend doesn’t remove those doubts.
The other factor is that MotoGP’s first race took place at the same circuit as the entirety of pre-season running. It could just be that Vinales and Yamaha were able to use all that track time to get really dialled in, a luxury they won’t have again.
There are much bigger challenges to come. And one of them will have #93 on the front of his bike in the not-too-distant future.
Vinales will make the difference this time
David Gruz
We have recently seen both current factory Yamaha riders absolutely nail the start of a season and then have their year fall apart, but I’m still going to go ahead and say yes, Yamaha has turned a corner for 2021.
Nothing major has changed about the M1 since last year – it is fantastic over one lap, lacks in top speed and often has really bad starts, so I’m not necessarily putting my hopes on the bike but on Vinales instead.
There was something new about the 26-year-old in the first Qatar race. He had the confidence to wait for the correct time to attack and then to make aggressive overtakes on the Ducatis.
He also had really strong corner exit, which limited Ducati’s top speed superiority, and was better at conserving his tyres compared to those on the Desmosedici.
Marc Marquez isn’t around yet, Pol Espargaro still needs time, Ducati and Suzuki both still have their respective Achilles’ heels to fix. It’s as ideal as it gets for Vinales and his fellow Yamaha riders.
I’m just waiting for another collapse
Matt Beer
Yes, there was clear evidence that Yamaha had made a breakthrough with some of its key weaknesses in Qatar – and that Vinales looked like he was handling the pressure of expectation much better too.
But we’ve seen Yamaha start awesomely strongly then collapse with both its 2021 works riders in recent seasons, with both Vinales’ 2017 title bid and Quartararo’s 2020 effort plunging into failure.
Though tidying up the form fluctuations a little might be sufficient if this season gets as crazy as last year and a handful of wins punctuated by slumps is enough to base a championship challenge on, I can’t see that being the case.
Joan Mir’s progress from Q1 to a near-podium shows how strong the reigning champion and Suzuki will still be, and when MotoGP moves onto less power-hungry tracks his charges are less likely to be undone by a pair of Desmosedicis on a sprint to the line.
And no one will be able to afford any inconsistency if Marc Marquez is quickly back up to speed on his return.
If Vinales and Yamaha are still smashing out this sort of form come July, then I’ll stop thinking it’s probably just another false dawn. For now, it’s just another Yamaha promise that might not be fulfilled.
