👇👇“WE MADE THE MISTAKE OF TRUSTING HIM” Boss Paolo Pavesio was extremely disappointed with Quartararo’s poor results at Misano 2025, despite Yamaha adding an extremely powerful V4 engine for the French rider. Five minutes later, Quartararo himself spoke out to explain his failure.

In Misano 2025, the hopes were great when Yamaha decided to equip Fabio Quartarao with one of his most powerful developments to date: the V4 engine. The director of the team, Paolo Pavesio, openly praised this performance gain, convinced that he would fill many longtime weaknesses from Yamaha. Instead, the weekend was marked by frustration, underperformance and bitter regrets. A few minutes after the Pavesio declaration, Quartararo himself tried to explain why this new machine, apparently invincible, had so much disappointed it.

Yamaha had promised great things. The V4 engine was supposed to offer more power, better stability, better rear traction – everything to help the M1 to regain its competitiveness. Pavesio, who expected results, said today that making this development may be premature: “We thought he [Quartararo] could make the most of the new engine. But we were wrong. ” His disappointment is palpable because the expectations were not modest, they were daring.

The Quartararo weekend in Misano was a disaster. Friday, he struggled during the test sessions, unable to find adhesion and regularity. He complained about the tender rear tire that was problematic on one side of the track, while the medium rear tire was unpredictable on the other. He lacked confidence to attack, especially since the sensations of the motorcycle were constantly changing.

Neither the rhythm nor the reliability played in his favor. Although he signed impressive times here and there, when it had – racing rhythm, long relay, tire wear – everything collapsed. Pavesio thought that the V4 would solve a large part of these problems, especially in terms of grip and rear stability, but this improvement has caused its share of problems. Certain parts of the motorcycle, especially in high loaded turns, reacted badly. The adjustments made by Yamaha during tests and free tests have helped somewhat, but the race conditions revealed gaps in terms of understanding and preparation.

Only five minutes after hearing the Pavesio verdict in public, Fabio Quartararo spoke to endorse part of the responsibility, but also to expose its version of the facts. He spoke of his difficulties of adaptation to the new machine. He said he felt “uncomfortable” with the rear tire, especially in transition. He admitted that his bad result was largely due to confidence: without confidence, he could not attack, and without attacking, the raw speed of the V4 had little importance. He stressed that the unpredictable behavior of the new motorcycle forced him to pilot more defensively, limited by unexpected constraints at the start of the weekend.

In his own words: “We had a lot of hope, but when the motorcycle does not allow to attack, it is difficult. It is one thing to say that the engine is powerful, but it is another to manage adhesion, tire wear and balance. When things move in racing, we lose more than we win. ” He also pointed out that changes in settings made by Yamaha between May and Misano weekends had been beneficial in certain areas, including grip at the rear, but that the balance of the front axle was still insufficient, which cost him dearly.

There is also a deeper tension: Quartararo clearly indicated that what he wants above all is a competitive racing motorcycle, and not only promises of power or new technical packages. He seeks regularity. It is frustrated to note that, even when the prototype shows potential in a session or a lap, the race conditions bring it back to Earth. Pavesio’s confidence in the new engine was based on this potential. The reality of Quartararo revealed that this potential still has too many unknowns.

Yamaha is now faced with difficult questions: was the development calendar realistic? Did she perform enough tests in real race conditions-low adhesion, high heat, tire wear-to understand the behavior of the V4? Has she left a quarter-time enough time and opportunities to adapt to its particularities before launching it in a pressure GP environment?

Misano 2025 will be remembered not as the moment when Yamaha’s upgrade has taken up the challenge, but as the moment when their hope has revealed its flaws. The public disavowal of Pavesio – “we were wrong to trust him” – could hurt, but the explanations of Quartararo suggest that the errors are not fully incumbent on him. The important thing now is whether Yamaha will manage to fill the gap between the promises of the prototype and the reality of the race weekend before the next event.