Yamaha - why did it all go wrong?

Yamaha’s fall from grace in MotoGP shouldn’t be surprising to those monitoring their progress, but why has it happened?

The Yamaha Factory Racing Team took to the grid for the first time in 1999, in a period where Honda dominated the sport. MotoGP legend Mick Doohan controlled the 1990s, winning 5 consecutive titles between 1994-98. The early 2000s saw Honda develop the RC2211V, a bike which won 3 riders and 4 constructors titles in 5 years, with the likes of Valentino Rossi and Nicky Hayden guiding them to victory in 48 out of 82 races in the space of 5 years.

By the end of 2003, Yamaha were an established team, finishing 7th in the rider’s standings with Spaniard Carlos Checa. They were some 234 points behind Rossi in the championship and 220 points behind Honda in the constructors without a single win all season. Their solution to this was bold, yet brilliant.

Yep…that’s right, they managed to steal Rossi away from the title-winners Honda for the 2004 season. Team manager Davide Brivio was instrumental in convincing Rossi to make the switch to Yamaha, aided by the sour relationship developing with Honda.

There were question marks over the move, including uncertainty from Rossi, but beating Honda’s Max Biaggi to victory at the opening round of the 2004 season put those doubts to rest. He went onto win another 8 races during the season and claimed his 4th world title as well. Rossi managed 3 more titles with Yamaha in 2005, ’08 and ’09, with his teammate Lorenzo winning the title in 2010, ’12 and ’15.

By this time, Rossi had jumped ship for a big money move to Ducati in 2011. With 0 poles and 0 wins in 2 seasons, he returned to the team in 2013 to partner Lorenzo. Yamaha had managed to create a bike that was renowned for being smooth and easy to ride, as well as being brilliant over a race distance.

Lorenzo won his final title in 2015 aboard the Yamaha, with the cracks in their operation starting to show. Their stubbornness and attitude towards change from this point onwards has been the catalyst for their present issues.

At the start of the 2016 season, Michelin was announced to replace Bridgestone and they became the sole tyre provider for the MotoGP world championship. The sweet handling, easy to ride bike had changed overnight. A consistent lack of rear grip was causing them issues through the corners, as well as increasing the rate of tyre degradation. Yes, they still performed well in the championship, finishing 2nd and 3rd, but their issues were becoming increasingly troubling.

The fact of the matter is, Yamaha were failing to maintain the development trajectory of other teams and were falling behind. Honda and Ducati were able to adapt to the new tyres much more effectively, which led to crucial mistakes from the Yamaha Team. Instead of focussing on making stable, methodical developments, they made reactions. In a bid to keep them at the front of the grid, they made the ‘quick’ fix, without ever understanding and resolving their issues. The problems would eventually build up and no matter how good the rider was, they would be insurmountable. Jorge Lorenzo was quick to act and for the 2017 season he had signed for rivals Ducati.

At this time in MotoGP, there were clear characteristics developing up and down the grid. Ducati was known for their rocketship engine, the Honda was renowned for its superb acceleration and Yamaha was still the best in the corners. Unlike the 2000s and early 2010s, the bikes performance in the corners was less of an advantage. This meant no matter how good they could turn the bike, they were getting powered past down the straights. They were helpless.

2017 was a minor disaster for the team. They started year with a string of strong performances, trialling a new and ‘improved’ chassis. As the season continued, frustrations began to boil over and an embarrassing decision to revert back to the 2016 chassis was made. Not only was their chassis now old, but their engine was slower than their rivals, their electronics were outdated, and their bike was extremely inconsistent to ride.

The truth is, even though Yamaha were going through all these troubles, on their day they were still ruthless and effective winners. Between 2010-2020 they won 3 titles, but it could’ve been a handful more if it wasn’t for the new kid on the block, Marc Márquez.

His aggressive riding style (which Rossi thought was over the limit), and his ability to make daring overtakes, made him extremely difficult to compete with. The Honda bike by this time was suffering a similar fate to Yamaha, but Márquez was able to thrive when the grip was low, and the bike was uncomfortable beneath him. This ability meant between his debut in 2013 and the 2019 season, he won 6 out of the 7 titles, winning the title in his rookie season. A major crash in the first round of the 2020 season forced him to miss the rest of the year, as well as subsequent races over the next 3. Honda suffered greatly from this loss and haven’t been to the podium since Márquez left the team in 2023.

Yamaha found themselves at the centre of controversy in the 2020 season. The engine they had produced was extremely unreliable, with two engines expiring in the first two rounds of the covid-delayed 2020 season. Yamaha were in pole position to win the title at the start of the season with Quartararo (who wasn’t even on the factory bike) securing victories. Poor reliability and an inability to resolve and evolve is what cost them the title to Joan Mir and Suzuki. Their consistency won them the title, as Mir only won one race all year compared to Quatararo’s 3. Crucially, they found themselves in a spot of bother with the governing body of MotoGP, the FIM. They illegally changed components on their engine to help improve their reliability issues. When they were found out, Yamaha were docked 50 points in the team's championship, with no rider suffering personal points losses.

Yamaha rode their final wave of good fortune in 2021. No team was operating on a perfect level, with Quatararo able to capitalise on this. Newly promoted to the factory team, the ‘devil’ outperformed the motorcycle, clinching the 2021 title ahead of Ducati rival Pecco Bagnaia.

2022 started in a similar fashion and by the midway point of the season he was 91 points ahead of Bagnaia. People were saying the championship ‘was already won’, but nobody could’ve predicted what happened next.

Yamaha’s bike became that poor during the second half of the season, it meant Bagnaia was able to outscore Quatararo by 108 points, overturning the 91 points deficit and clinching the title. The biggest points overhaul in MotoGP history.

It was a crushing blow for Yamaha.

I think the main reason for Yamaha’s decline is an ideology and ethos problem, and the same applies to Honda.

For years there has been a divide in MotoGP between the Japanese manufacturers and the European manufacturers. Yamaha and Honda have always felt the need to wait until the component is perfect before they even think about testing it. This means their development is slow and can be quite expensive. But why should they know any different? They dominated the sport for the last 20 years with the same method, with Ducati only managing to clinch titles in ’07 and ’11 with Stoner.

Ducati and Aprillia adopted a different approach to testing, with Ducati currently reaping the greatest rewards. For years they worked behind the scenes, testing and failing, testing and failing, until they eventually cracked it. Unlike Yamaha, they didn’t patch up their mistakes, they analysed and understood why it was happening and spent years, if not a decade, rectifying their issues.

Yamaha were happy being at the front of the grid, but in the latter years of their most recent successes, they weren’t innovative. They didn’t push the boundaries of the sport for improvement. Whether that was due to complacency, I’m not sure, but Ducati have capitalised on this opportunity.

They innovated systems such as the Ride Height Device and Launch Control in 2021, as well as the improved Traction Control System in 2022. Their aerodynamics and electronics were far in advance of everybody else, so come mid-2022 when they finally fully understood the bike, they were unstoppable. They are the quickest on the straight, they have the best acceleration and often quickest in the corners.

2023 and 2024 have been nothing short of disastrous for Yamaha, with them suffering from a range of issues.

They are still the only MotoGP team to use an inline 4 instead of a V4 engine. Like me, if you didn’t know the difference, a V4 is smaller than an inline 4 due to its cylinder arrangement and can produce more power as the crankshaft is shorter. So, in simple terms, a V4 is a smaller, lighter engine which produces more power. So why aren’t Yamaha already using it? Besides a complete bike redesign, Yamaha were uncertain whether the ‘risks outweighed the costs’. They have come to regret this decision, with the V4 engine currently in development.

But their heavy inline 4, combined with their poor rear grip and stability, is causing the bike to be pushed wide in the corners, making it extremely heavy (as well as slow on the straights). Quatararo has already had two operations on his arm to help combat the arm pump caused by the bike, but even that hasn’t resolved the issue, as he said he didn’t “know what to do…my muscle after the mid-race was clearly on the limit”. His teammate Rins, who made the switch to Yamaha from LCR Honda in 2024 reported similar issues, saying the muscle fatigue was “critical” and when he returns to the garage “they had to help me because I was dizzy”. They finished the season 13th and 18th in the rider's standings, some 400 points behind eventual champion Martin.

The fact is, Yamaha were cautious and naïve with their development of the bike in the last 10 years, a decision they are now paying the price for. Ducati and Aprillia’s meticulous work behind the scenes have made them the dominant forces in MotoGP. Ducati are now able to sign the best talent on the grid, with Marc Márquez joining the factory team for the 2025 season onwards.

Now Yamaha, unlike Honda, are making more effective progress. They are producing their V4 engine, but it is a lengthy, tedious process. They are using their testing time effectively, signing Augusto Fernandez (MotoGP rider in 2023 and 2024) to complete their testing programmes. In 2025, the Pramac team which just took Martin to championship glory, will switch from Ducati to Yamaha. This is crucial for the Yamaha squad as they will have double the data and feedback to analyse, which in theory, should help to push them forward.

Crucially, they’ve also managed to retain their star rider Fabio Quatararo. They have admittedly managed this by making him the highest paid rider in the sport, but nevertheless it’s another positive step for the team.

But they face a near impossible task. They’ve got to be faster than the team that has built the almost perfect bike. How they are going to beat them, I’m not sure.  Regulation changes will possibly help in 2027, but the truth is they have a long road ahead to get back to the top.

Will they win another championship? Absolutely. Will they win one this decade? No, I don’t think so.