Yamaha media blackout for Quartararo? The WorldSBK champion’s proposal amid tensions and deep crisis

Should Yamaha put Quartararo on a media blackout? A former rider and SBK world champion weighs in, not looking kindly on the constant negative criticism.

The current situation at Yamaha is now known to everyone. The difficulties that have been ongoing for years in MotoGP—and that have clearly worsened with a V4 gamble that was likely too premature—and consequently the riders’ results, which clearly can’t be exceptional, have led to evident discontent. The technical side is in serious trouble, and Fabio Quartararo hasn’t been short of sharp, negative statements to the media—since the start of the year, in fact—regarding the M1’s serious issues. There’s a rift between the two parties on multiple fronts (and the Frenchman is being linked to Honda for 2027, although nothing is official). That’s why a possibility is being floated: what if the Iwata brand took some measures on the communications front and imposed a media blackout? It already happened in early March after the Thailand GP...

That’s literally what Neil Hodgson, 2003 Superbike world champion and one of the three hosts of the “Gas It Out” podcast, suggested. The former British rider doesn’t deny Yamaha’s situation, but he also has words for the 2021 MotoGP champion. "If I were Yamaha’s press office, I’d say: ‘Enough, Fabio. We need to stop you from talking to the media, because your comments are really negative.’ That’s the current situation,” Hodgson stated openly on an episode, as also reported by our colleagues at Paddock-GP. A clear way of saying that, in short, certain remarks aren’t helping the atmosphere within the team and the brand—on the contrary, they’re further weighing down an environment that’s already anything but calm. But certainly the MotoGP situation isn’t rosy; the results speak for themselves.

We’re not taking sides; we can admit that constant criticism doesn’t help, but the complaints are no longer coming only from Quartararo, even if his remain the most direct and evident: we’ve also heard them from Rins and from Miller, and even rookie Razgatlioglu has recently admitted how complicated the situation is. Yamaha is going through the darkest period in its MotoGP history, and there’s still no sign of a way out, no glimmer, no small signal suggesting that a slow rebound is underway. It will be tough to reach the end of the season amid technical difficulties and the riders’ ever-growing frustration...