Let's talk MotoGP: Yamaha has its worst start to a MotoGP season!

You may have missed it, but Yamaha has never had a worse start to a season since the introduction of four-stroke MotoGP in 2002! While the Japanese manufacturers have been touting their progress for a while now, it turns out that the Yamaha riders are having a hard time getting the YZR-M1 to work. After two Grands Prix, Yamaha has only 13 points in the manufacturers' standings, despite having four bikes on the grid. Is this a bad sign? Analysis.

 

An alarming accounting reality

 

This article will aim to defuse the situation, as we are only in the second round. However, after coming up with the idea for this article, I looked into what the math says about Yamaha in 2025. And it's more alarming than I thought. : after starting 2024 with 15 points in two rounds, the Blues are doing even worse with only 13 points scored at the end of the Argentine Grand Prix.

This is the worst record since the beginning of the era. MotoGP ; even if the first two rounds are not expected to determine the rest of the year, it is a bad sign, at the very least. For those who like history, here are some other statistics: this is only the fourth time that a Yamaha has not reached the podium in the first two rounds (after 2003, 2023 and 2024), and imagine the distance that separated Quarta from the box last Sunday. It is also the worst start to the season for fabio quartararo since he has been in MotoGPHe scored eight points in his second race without the Sprints, while he currently has six... without having crashed. Yamaha is in last place in the manufacturers' standings, and in the last two places in the teams' standings.

 

 

I'm the first to repeat it: the season is long, yes, but I'm simply saying that such results don't help us imagine a successful season in the end. In Argentina, Quartararo was hit – we'll talk about that again – but the Frenchman still highlighted the lack of performance of his bike at the finish, without blaming everything on Bezzecchi's failed departure.

 

What the track says

 

There is what the numbers say, and what the men say. I always prefer to trust one rather than the other, but the testimony of the riders is important to understand the current dynamics. On this point, it is not glorious. Quartararo and Rins, mainly, complain of a sometimes unmanageable bike, suffering from uncontrolled tire deterioration in Buriram. In Argentina, the same rather vague observation, while noting, all the same, the quality of the front end. The weak points therefore concentrate on tire consumption, grip and speed in slow corners - that's a lot. The Sunday race is the big weak point of the Yamaha, which do not last the distance: still no entry in the top 10 for a YZR-M1 in Grand Prix.

The new team, Pramac Racing, doesn't offer much more hope. Miller shocked the motorcycling world by qualifying fourth in Thailand, but didn't capitalize on that effort in either round. His 11th-place finish allowed him to outclass his three teammates. Then, in Argentina, Miguel Oliveira has already been injured ; the Portuguese validates one of my predictions after only the second Grand Prix, since I had bet on a quick return of Augusto Fernandez to MotoGP to replace Oliveira or Rins – a fairly low-risk bet, I grant you.

 

 

As you can see, things aren't looking very good in this regard. The drivers are quite disappointed, especially after having had encouraging winter tests and two very decent first days in Thailand: "I thought we were going to be in trouble, but not to this extent. This winter I thought we had taken a step forward, but I don't think that's the case. », Fabio Quartararo said on Sunday evening in Termas de Rio Hondo.

 

Extenuating circumstances

 

Let's try to put things into perspective: that's only two races, a fairly small sample for the moment. Yes, there's little chance that Yamaha will have its best season ever, but performance always depends on a context, which is quite unfavorable this time. First of all, it was Pramac Racing's debut with Yamaha – so they had to relearn how to work with another brand, which is far from easy. Miller and Oliveira were new to the bike; in fact, the balance sheet might have been different if the Portuguese had started the Argentine Grand Prix.

 

 

For Rins and Quartararo, it's the same story, although we can't deny the obvious complaints of the two officials and their problematic feeling. Alex Rins suffered enormously from the heat in Thailand, which can happen when the drivers are in a pack – it had handicapped Vinales and Raul Fernandez in 2023. For Quartararo, he was unable to make his tires work, which resulted in a 15th place at the finish. Until then, "El Diablo" had had a very good weekend, with a direct qualification in Q2, a 10th place on the grid and seventh place in the Sprint. Also, it should be remembered that Buriram is far from being one of his favorite tracks.

In Argentina, on a circuit that has never benefited the YZR-M1 so much – whose last victory here dates back to 2017 –, Quartararo was harpooned by Marco Bezzecchi at the start of the main race while he was starting seventhWe know how important the first laps are, and there's no doubt that this biased start had a negative impact on his race. Alex Rins was 11th, which I think isn't such a bad result: it's his best since the 2024 Malaysian GP. He was also in Q2, which shows that the speed is there.

 

Conclusion

 

Even though it is impossible to deny the pilots' statements and their worrying results – factually – I remain quite optimistic about the Yamaha case. They are not progressing as quickly as Honda, but they are fast: this is much more difficult to acquire than consistency or race pace. However, be careful of poor dynamics, which must not lead to a crisis early in the season.

I'm curious to know what you think of Yamaha's opening. Do you agree with my analysis? Tell me in the comments!

 

 

Cover photo: Michelin Motorsport