Yamaha MotoGP rider Fabio Quartararo has a laptime target in mind for the manufacturer's introduction of the V4 engine in the place of the currently-struggling M1 inline-four engine.
The 1000cc V4, which Yamaha clearly hopes to be racing in the final year of the current regulations cycle in 2026, has been undergoing track testing with test riders Augusto Fernandez and Andrea Dovizioso - and is set to be given to Yamaha's regular riders for a spin during the Monday test after the San Marino Grand Prix at Misano.
It will be a long-awaited public debut, with much intrigue surrounding whether the engine - and the remodelled chassis that surrounds it - will be competitive enough to phase out the inline-four-engined M1.
The 2025 M1 had had a reasonable start to the season, but is coming off a truly atrocious showing in the Austrian Grand Prix - in which Yamaha's four riders took up the last four places and set the four worst fastest laps.
Quartararo said ahead of the next race (the Hungarian Grand Prix at the new Balaton Park) that he wants Yamaha to feel the 'shock' of its Red Bull Ring performance.
“We have to forget- well, I have to forget, not the engineers. I hope they don't forget all year what happened in Austria. Because I don't want it to happen again, because it's ridiculous, the result we made.
"And we want an explanation, all four of us [riders]. I think it was good for the engineers to see the result of Austria.”
But while he said that he was still keen for more work to be done on the inline-four bike, also because he fears Yamaha "doesn't know how the bike is working" and what makes it fast or slow, it's been clear for some time that Quartararo is desperate to move on to riding a V4.
Quartararo admitted that he would've liked to have trialled the V4 privately before the Misano test - which he would've been allowed to do given the scope for testing with race riders Yamaha is afforded by its 'Rank D' concession status.
“But I think they are late in the development of the bike. My feeling was, we had to test it before - but I’m not the one that chooses if I need to ride the bike or not.
“I think they are scared that the bike is not ready and is not good enough for me to ride it.”
Yamaha is also allowed, should it so choose, to start racing the V4 with its full-time riders whenever it wants to - as it is not bound by the engine freeze.
Asked by The Race whether being half a second off his M1 pace with the V4 at Misano would be enough to pivot to the V4 wholly and race it not just in 2026 but right away, Quartararo said: "I think yes.
"I mean, if I try it and I'm less than 0.5s off my [M1] laptime, I think it's a good step. Because it would be the first time that I really use it."
