Quartararo puts on a show in Brazil, but no illusions: "Yamaha hasn't improved

Stunning performance by Quartararo on Saturday in Goiania: despite a still very raw Yamaha, he once again proved he’s a champion.

Fourth in Qualifying and sixth in the sprint race, Fabio Quartararo did something unexpected at the 2026 Brazilian Grand Prix. While we wait to see how the long race goes—which could be more complicated for him and Yamaha—the Saturday results are astonishing. In Thailand the M1 was disastrous; in Goiania, in the hands of the 2021 MotoGP champion, it’s holding its own respectably.

The French rider can only be pleased with how Saturday went. Securing the second row and having a good fight in the opening stages of the Sprint (he even managed to move up to second place) brought a bit of a smile back to his face: "I’m satisfied," reports Speedweek, "because we took advantage of the opportunity in the morning, when several riders crashed and we managed to do a good lap. Above all, at the start of the race I had fun, I just wanted to push and try to stay with the front guys. We know we don’t yet have the potential to fight with them consistently, but at least I’m enjoying these moments."

Fighting with the other manufacturers isn’t easy, especially because the Yamaha M1’s V4 engine is still not performant enough. Quartararo explained what makes it difficult for him to battle: "It’s due to wheelspin and obviously also the engine power. In qualifying we were about 12 km/h slower than Marquez’s top speed, and 12 km/h over a kilometer is a lot. I think 80% depends on engine power."

The Iwata factory needs to work hard on the engine to allow the riders to defend themselves and attack more effectively; there’s a gap that must be drastically reduced as soon as possible. Even though Saturday went well, Quartararo made it clear there hasn’t been any concrete improvement to the M1: "It’s a short track and I know my potential over a single lap. Sure, this track suits us better than Thailand, but the bike is the same, it hasn’t improved. I simply feel better here. I expect more problems again in Austin and Jerez. Today was by far our best day of the year, we’ll see what happens on Sunday. It will be difficult to do better than sixth place."