Fabio Quartararo has established himself as one of MotoGP’s top riders in recent years, being one of five world champions on the grid in 2025.
The Frenchman has been with Yamaha his entire career in the premier class, making the move to MotoGP in 2019. Carlo Pernat predicts Quartararo will stay there ‘forever’, having committed to the brand on numerous occasions.
| Season | Team | Races | Wins | Podiums | Poles | FL | Points | Pos. |
| 2019 | Petronas Yamaha SRT | 19 | 0 | 7 | 6 | 2 | 192 | 5th |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2020 | Petronas Yamaha SRT | 14 | 3 | 3 | 4 | 2 | 127 | 8th |
| 2021 | Monster Energy Yamaha MotoGP | 18 | 5 | 10 | 5 | 5 | 278 | 1st |
| 2022 | Monster Energy Yamaha MotoGP | 20 | 3 | 8 | 1 | 4 | 248 | 2nd |
| 2023 | Monster Energy Yamaha MotoGP | 20 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 172 | 10th |
| 2024 | Monster Energy Yamaha MotoGP Team | 20 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 113 | 13th |
| 2025 | Monster Energy Yamaha MotoGP Team | 8 | 0 | 1 | 3 | 0 | 59* | 10th* |
Starting life with the satellite SRT team, the 26-year-old was competitive almost immediately, collecting seven podiums in his rookie season. Quartararo won his first three races in MotoGP the following year, as he finished as the third highest-ranked Yamaha rider ahead of Valentino Rossi.
With the seven-time MotoGP champion, Maverick Vinales and Franco Morbidelli alongside him, the Frenchman had great riders to learn from and analyse. But in 2021, he was thrown into the deep end by Yamaha as he swapped places with Rossi in 2021.
Fabio Quartararo was afraid to say he had replaced Valentino Rossi at Yamaha due to pressure from Italian fans
Winning four of his titles (2004, 2005, 2008 and 2009) with the manufacturer, Rossi was a legendary figure in the team and MotoGP. Idolised around the paddock and across the world, Quartararo had huge shoes to fill.
The pressure got to the 26-year-old, Quartararo admits via the Mig Babol YouTube channel. He was afraid to say that he had replaced Rossi due to how fans may perceive him.
“For me, people don’t know the pressure I was under, even mentally, because I never wanted to say that I took Vale’s place,” he said.
“Because Vale is ultimately the icon of MotoGP and also for the Italian fans and now the whole world, they will say: ‘Ah, I took Vale’s place. I don’t like this rider anymore’.
“And I had this fear a little to say this, I have to honour this place. And the first race in Qatar, I sucked. I finished fifth but we had the pace to win, but I was so nervous that I didn’t even think about the tyres, about anything, about the maps.
“But after the second one we won it, so it was really a little bit difficult, but I saw that people also saw that I was going fast.”
READ MORE: Everything to know about Fabio Quartararo from net worth to career stats
Fabio Quartararo is on a mission to rebuild Yamaha after winning the MotoGP title in 2021
Yamaha’s decision would ultimately pay off in 2021, as Quartararo edged out Francesco Bagnaia to win the title. He could not defend his crown to the Italian in 2022 – Yamaha have been struggling for performance since then.
Quartararo asked mechanics to remove a ‘number one sticker’ from the garage as he did not want to be reminded of the past. The Frenchman is determined to get the manufacturer to the top of MotoGP and has found encouraging signs, taking three pole positions thus far in 2025.
However, the 26-year-old has failed to capitalise, retiring from Le Mans and Silverstone from the front. The YZR-M1 does not have the pace of the Ducatis, with Yamaha’s star rider noticing several faults.
Quartararo suffered ‘dangerous’ vibrations at Aragon as he suffered his third consecutive retirement. With the chatter issue last weekend, Quartararo fears Yamaha could ‘get lost’ if it is not resolved in Mugello.
