Fabio Quartararo and the big Honda deal: money and promises

After 8 years, 6 of which were spent with the Factory team, the relationship between Fabio Quartararo and Yamaha can be considered worn out, even exhausted. For well-known reasons, due to the difficulties encountered in seasons short on satisfaction.

It’s right for both sides to say goodbye, with immediate benefits: Yamaha has secured the current two riders in the top two spots in the championship (a World Champion like Jorge Martin, and the man of the moment Ai Ogura), while Quartararo has embraced the Honda cause. With comprehensive motivations from both technical and financial standpoints.

The HRC press release announcing the two-year deal (2027–2028) with the 2021 MotoGP World Champion emphasizes that it was precisely on a Honda that he debuted in the 2015 Moto3 World Championship and, the previous season, won the CEV Moto3 title. With the new NSF250RW Moto3, fielded by Monlau Competition then headed by Emilio Alzamora, at the time part of a long-term program. Among options and clauses, with a 7-year “development” contract, which later evaporated when he decided to move to Leopard for 2016. A team that then, surprisingly, switched from Honda to KTM. It did not benefit ‘El Diablo’ himself, who gained very little from that professional venture.

Fabio Quartararo was already close to Honda for the 2023 season. In the early months of 2022, fresh off his world title, HRC presented a substantial offer to line up alongside Marc Marquez. They did not hide the negotiations or their interest in public, only to then opt for the first of two two-year renewals with Yamaha. Four years later, the paths of the parties have converged.

The French rider made the decision to leave Yamaha and sign with Honda at the end of 2025, with the contract essentially finalized at the start of the new year. Currently the highest-paid rider in MotoGP, he will maintain this status for the next 2 years as well. Honda offered money (a lot), alongside an enticing plan that places Quartararo at the center of the project. Lead rider, development spearhead, with significant resources deployed and a high-profile hiring campaign. That’s how they convinced Fabio who, presumably, was waiting for just that.